Sometimes the most valuable treasures are hiding in plain sight which was certainly the case with a french family when they discovered a priceless painting thought to be lost forever in their attic.
Old painting found in attic.
The 400 year old work which was found by accident in 2014 in an attic of a house in toulouse is thought to have been painted by italian master caravaggio according to old masters expert eric.
The attic of their toulouse home had yielded a surprising discovery.
Caravaggio allegedly painted two versions of the same image.
This version had been lost for decades until it turned up in the attic.
A painting coated in dust and stained by a water leak that looked all the same to be something of value.
In 2010 mcardle s descendent jon buell discovered the dirty painting in his grandmother s attic hidden between the rafters underneath a tarp.
Years after purchasing a house in toulouse france the owner focused on an old painting stored in the attic.
Although some think the painting isn t real it s estimated to be worth between 114 million and 171 million.
Wikimedia commons eric turquin a 16th century painting by italian baroque artist caravaggio was recently discovered collecting dust in an old attic.
It was coated in dust and stained by a water leak so it seemed unlikely to be worth anything.
But to be on the safe side in 2014 he alerted an art appraiser eric turquin based in paris.
It took five years of verification and restoration to prepare the 1607 caravaggio for auction.
Opinion on it before we put it up for sale anywhere discovered in the rectory attic in 1986 by a former priest of all saints the painting was eventually sent to an art conservation firm in new hampshire where it got an inconclusive evaluation and was then returned to all saints and stored in a.
It is expected to go for 170 million.
The painting which was found under an old mattress in the attic.
A painting stumbled upon in the attic of a house in france is an authentic work by italian renaissance master caravaggio and could be worth up to 120 million euros a178m experts said.
A painting described as a lost caravaggio masterpiece has been bought two days before it was due to go under the hammer in france.
3 6 millionone 18th century giovanni battista tiepolo painting lay hidden in the attic of a french château for two centuries perhaps because its subject showed a little too much.
The owners of the house near the southwestern city of toulouse discovered the dramatic 400 year old painting when they went to fix a leak in the ceiling.