A long-lost painting by baroque master Peter Paul Rubens has sold at auction in France for €2.3m ($2.7m) – well beyond its asking price.
The work, of Jesus Christ on the cross and painted in 1613, was unearthed by auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat in a Paris mansion last year after being hidden for more than four centuries.
Osenat – whose auction house sold the painting on Sunday against an expected €1-2m – found the canvas as he was preparing the property to be sold.
He said earlier this year the picture was “a masterpiece” that was painted by Rubens when the 17th-century Flemish master was “at the height of his talent”.
The total price rose to €2.94m ($3.41m) after fees including a buyer’s premium.
The auction house said in its promotional material that very little was known of the painting – only that a peer of Rubens had made an engraving of it. Later historians described this engraving and, despite having never seen the painting, catalogued its existence.
It was bought by a 19th-century French academic painter, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and passed down through his family, according to the auction house. The painting was authenticated by German art historian Nils Büttner, known for his research on the master of the Flemish baroque, Osenat said.
Büttner said before the auction that Rubens often painted crucifixions but rarely depicted “the crucified Christ as a dead body on the cross”.
“So this is the one and only painting showing blood and water coming out of the side wound of Christ, and this is something that Rubens only painted once.”
Osenat said its provenance was certified through methods including X-ray imaging and pigment analysis.
“It’s the very beginning of baroque painting, depicting a crucified Christ, isolated, luminous and standing out vividly against a dark and threatening sky,” Osenat said.
Rubens produced many works for the Church but the painting – measuring 105.5 by 72.5cm (42 by 29 inches) – was likely to have been created for a private collector.
With the Associated Press