A painting by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens from the 17th century that was believed to be lost has been auctioned in France for a good 2.7 million francs.
12/01/2025, 05:1312/01/2025, 05:13
At 2.74 million francs, the estimated price for the painting was far exceeded at Sunday’s auction, as the Osenat auction house in Versailles announced.
The price went up to almost three million euros.Image: keystone
The head of the auction house, Jean-Pierre Osenat, discovered the painting last year while taking inventory of a Parisian villa that was to be sold. The German Rubens expert Nils Büttner then checked it for authenticity. Büttner is chairman of the Centrum Rubenianum in Antwerp, the center for Flemish art of the 16th and 17th centuries, and editor of Rubens’ catalog raisonné.
The recovered painting is approximately 106 by 73 centimeters in size and shows Jesus crucified. “It is the beginning of baroque painting: Christ on the cross is depicted isolated, bright and sharply defined against a dark and threatening sky,” is how the head of the auction house described the work. In the background is the city of Jerusalem, illuminated but under a stormy sky.
The painting was considered lost for a long time.Image: keystone
Osenat spoke of a “masterpiece” that Rubens painted in 1613 at the height of his creativity. His trail could be traced thanks to an engraving. Experts also took X-rays and analyzed the color pigments, said Osenat. The painting is “very well preserved”.
Rubens, who created many works for churches, probably painted the picture for a private collector. In the 19th century it was owned by the painter William Bouguereau, then it belonged to the owners of the Paris townhouse in which it was found. (sda/afp)