Masterpiece found in French woman’s kitchen sells for €24 million

Auctioneer says sale is world record for pre-1500 artwork

A part of the painting "Christ Mocked", a long-lost masterpiece by Florentine Renaissance artist Cimabue in the late 13th century, which was found months ago hanging in an elderly woman's kitchen in the town of Compiegne, is seen in Paris, France, September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File PhotoShow less

An old painting found in the kitchen of an elderly French woman, who considered it an icon of little value, has made her a multimillionaire.

The work, a masterpiece attributed to the 13th-century Italian painter Cimabue, which was discovered this year, sold for €24 million (Dh97.6m) on Sunday.

Dominique Le Coent of Acteon Auction House, who sold the masterpiece to an anonymous buyer near Chantilly, north of Paris, said the sale represented a “world record for a primitive, or a pre-1500 work".

“It’s a painting that was unique, splendid and monumental. Cimabue was the father of the Renaissance," Mr Le Coent said. "But this sale goes beyond all our dreams."

An auctioneer saw the painting on a wall between the woman's kitchen and dining room in June, while inspecting her house in Compiegne, in northern France.

The auctioneer suggested that she take it to experts for an evaluation.

The woman will now receive “the majority” of the sale money, the auction house said.

The expected sale price had been between €4m and €6m.

Mr Le Coent said experts were off the mark because it was the first time a Cimabue had gone under the hammer.

“There’s never been a Cimabue painting on sale so there was no reference previously on how much it could make,” he said.

Called Christ Mocked, the painting measures about 24 centimetres by 20cm.

Art experts say it is probably part of a larger diptych that Cimabue painted in about 1280, of which two other panels are displayed at the Frick Collection in New York and the National Gallery in London.

The painting’s discovery has sent ripples of excitement through the art world.

Cimabue, who taught the Italian master Giotto, broke from the Byzantine style popular in the Middle Ages and began to incorporate elements of movement and perspective that came to characterise western painting.

Specialists at the Turquin gallery in Paris initially examined the painting and concluded with “certitude” that it bore the hallmarks of Cimabue.

Stephane Pinta, an art specialist with the Turquin, pointed to likenesses in facial expressions and buildings, as well as the painter’s techniques for conveying light and distance.