This is the bizarre story of a masterpiece that almost ended up in the trash. For several years, the painting entitled The Derision of Christ sat peacefully in the kitchen of a nonagenarian from Oise who considered it a simple Russian icon of no value. It was in 2019, when the Isarienne was clearly sorting through her works of art that the painting was identified as being signed by the famous Florentine painter Cenni di Pepo, known as Cimabue, an essential figure of the end of the Byzantine style. What a genius idea to call an auctioneer before throwing everything in the dumpster, it seems like the owner can trust her instincts.

The work, which represents Jesus surrounded by a wild angry crowd, immediately caught the attention of the expert Philomène Wolf, marked by its impressive finish. Effectively recognized as the fruit of the genius of the pioneer painter of the Renaissance, Cimabue specialists have even concluded that the painting was part of a series of eight panels of which only two have been found to date, proof of an extremely rare find. .

This nugget, initially estimated at 4 million euros, was first sold for the cursed sum of 24 million euros at the Senlis auction house in 2019, thus becoming one of the most expensive old paintings sold at world. The buyer would have been linked to the Alana collection, based in the United States, which did not really please the French State, refusing its exit from the territory before declaring it a national treasure while it gathered the funds for its acquisition. .

One thing said, one thing done, the precious jewel officially joins the collections of the Louvre Museum obtaining the status of the oldest work in the Department of Paintings. The museum intends to pamper it before its presentation to the general public during an unmissable exhibition in spring 2025. The restored nugget will be presented alongside another Cimabue masterpiece, the Maesta.

Moral of the story, don’t throw anything away until you’ve had it examined! Who knows, maybe your apartment is also full of hidden treasures...