ART

A painting attributed to Michelangelo and reportedly sold to former Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos for $3.5 million was seized by the Italian government Monday at the Semenzato auction house in Venice where it was to go on sale. Italian authorities have been investigating the ownership of the painting since April, 1986, when U.S. authorities in Hawaii reportedly discovered it had been sold to Marcos in 1983. Experts are divided as to whether the painting is the work of Michelangelo, one of his students or of some other artist.