Next time when you clean out your house, make sure you don’t throw everything out or sell them mindlessly because, you never know if some of those things could be worth a fortune. That was exactly what a 90-year-old lady in France found out recently.
In the case of this unnamed woman, it was a painting that she hung over her stove which have always believed to be a “fake”. The painting was believed to be an original work of Renaissance painter Cenni di Pepo, AKA Cimabue, titled Mocking of Christ.
Mocking of Christ was one of a three-paneled polyptych. The revelation came about when the lady engaged a small auction house to appraisal the house’s contents. Auctioneer Philomène Wolf suspect that the painting was a work of Italian primitive, but never knew it would be Cimabue.
Wolf’s estimated that unsigned painting could be worth as much as €400,000 (about US$440K). That’s a lot of money, but it was certainly not a fortune, yet. The painting was subsequently estimated to be worth anywhere between €4 million and €6 million (approximately $4.4-6.6 million) by a renown Old Master appraiser, Eric Turquin.
Turquin is, btw, very confident of his assessment. And his proof? Worm holes. Turquin said all three panels of the polyptych should have tunnels dug by timber-eating larvae and therefore, if the track, specifically the cross-section holes, match up with the next painting, then it is an objective evidence that it is the real deal.
So now you know. Next time just be mindful of what you are letting go cos’ you never know if you may strike gold.
Featured photo: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images.
Source: All That Is Interesting.
