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| "Christ Mocked" painted by Cimabue a.k.a Cenni de Pepo in 1280 |
An early Renaissance masterpiece by the Florentine
painter Cimabue has been discovered in a kitchen on the outskirts of a town
north of Paris.
Christ Mocked, by the 13th-century artist who taught
Giotto, is estimated to be worth €4m-€6m.
The work went unnoticed for years in the house of a
woman in her 90s near the northern French town of Compiègne. It had been
hanging between her open-plan kitchen and her living room, arousing little
interest from the family, who assumed it was a standard religious icon.
Although it was placed directly above a hotplate for cooking food, the picture
was in good condition.
In June this year, when the woman decided to sell her
house and move away, she contacted an expert to look at the contents, furniture
and furnishings of the 1960s-built house in case some of it could be sold.
“I had a week to give an expert view on the house
contents and empty it,” expert Philomène Wolf told Le Parisien.
Wolf said she spotted the painting as soon as she
entered the house. “You seldom see something of such quality. I immediately
thought it was a work of Italian primitivism. But I didn’t imagine it was a
Cimabue.”
The auctioneer asked the woman to bring the painting,
measuring 20cm by 24cm, to experts for an evaluation. She thought there might
be a sale price of €300,000-€400,000.
Paris art experts gave their view on the painting’s
origin and valued the painting at millions. About 100 other objects from the
house were sold for around €6,000 and the remaining furniture and decorations
were disposed of at the local dump.
The woman and her family have insisted on remaining
anonymous. But they told the auction house that for years they had thought it
was simply an old religious icon from Russia. The woman said she had no idea how the small painting had come into the family’s hands.
The painting is a rare work by the Florence-born Cimabue, also
known as Cenni di Pepo, one of the pioneering artists of the early Italian
Renaissance. Only 11 works painted on wood have been attributed to him, none of
them signed.
The painting from the kitchen will be sold by the
Acteon auction house in Senlis late this month.
From The Guardian (edited)
Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images
