Nov 29, 2023 at 10:00 PM Update: 2 hours ago
A lost painting by the famous fifteenth-century painter Sandro Botticelli has resurfaced in Italy after more than fifty years. The canvas turned out to have been hanging in the living room of a family in Naples all that time. The work has an estimated value of more than 100 million euros.
According to the police branch for cultural heritage, the painting is in poor condition and needs to be restored. It is also being investigated whether the family in question is the rightful owner of the painting.
Botticelli’s artwork has been classified as an object of great cultural importance. Such works of art may be privately owned, provided that the owner can ensure the safety, care and management of such an object.
According to Italian art historians, the painting in question was donated by Boticelli to Pope Sixtus IV. He in turn donated it to a village church of Santa Maria la Carità, which is now a suburb of Naples.
The church then entrusted the Boticelli painting to a family, who managed it for centuries, writes the Italian newspaper the Republic.
The authorities recently discovered that the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate not only knew where the canvas hung, but had also regularly visited the family to check whether it was still there. “For unknown reasons, this has not happened in the past fifty years. As a result, the painting seemed lost. Then we decided to pay a visit,” says Massimiliano Croce of the police branch for cultural heritage.
After restoration, the painting, which has been named Madonna and Child, will be exhibited in Naples. The canvas is said to be one of Boticelli’s last works.
Beeld: Getty Images
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2023-11-29 21:00:43
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