Masterpiece found on French kitchen wall fetches $26.8 million

A medieval painting that hung for years near the kitchen of an olderFrenchwoman before being recognized as a work by the Italian artist Cimabue was auctioned on Sunday in France for $26.8 million.

The unsigned tempera panel of “The Mocking of Christ” was the first work believed to have been painted by Cimabue — considered the“father”of Western painting — to sell at auction in living memory. Estimated to sell at auction for 4 million to 6 million euros, it eventually fetched 24.2 million euros with fees. The price was believed to be the highest for a European old master painting at auction since Leonardo’s “Salvator Mundi” sold for a record $450.3 million at Christie’s in 2017.

The work was bought by London dealer Fabrizio Moretti against competition from at least six other bidders.“I bought it on behalf of two collectors,” he said. “It’s one of the most important old master discoveries in the last 15 years. Cimabue is the beginning of everything. He started modern art. When I held the picture in my hands, I almost cried.”

Moretti said the attribution to Cimabue (active 1272-1302) was “certain” and that the price was“big, but fair.”The 10-inchhigh poplar panel was discovered in June during a valuation of the contents of the house of an older woman near Compiègne, north of Paris. The painting hung on a wall next to the kitchen.

“I had a rare emotion with this little painting, almost indescribable,” said Philomène Wolf of Actéon, who had made the discovery.“In our profession, we know that this emotion was the result of a great master.”

Nothing is known of the history of the painting’s earlier ownership.