In a remarkable event for the art world, a long-lost masterpiece by the Flemish Baroque legend Peter Paul Rubens has been sold at auction for a staggering €2.3 million (£2.1 million).
The Dramatic Rediscovery
The painting, which depicts the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, was recently unearthed in a private townhouse in Paris. For more than four centuries, the artwork had been effectively missing, having virtually disappeared since the early 1600s. It had been part of a French collection, where for years it was mistakenly believed to be a product of one of the many workshops that operated under Rubens' name. Consequently, its value was rarely estimated to be above €10,000.
Auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat played a pivotal role in the painting's authentication. He told The Associated Press, "I immediately had a hunch about this painting, and I did everything I could to try to have it authenticated. And finally, we managed to have it authenticated by the Rubenianum, which is the Rubens committee in Antwerp."
A Unique Artistic Vision
The artwork's significance was highlighted by expert Nils Büttner, a renowned scholar on Rubens. He explained that while the master frequently painted crucifixions, he rarely portrayed "the crucified Christ as a dead body on the cross." This particular work is exceptionally rare as it is the one and only painting by Rubens showing blood and water flowing from the side wound of Christ, a detail he depicted just this once.
The Osenat auction house confirmed the painting's authenticity and provenance through rigorous scientific analysis. A microscopic examination of the paint layers was crucial, revealing not just the expected white, black, and red pigments in the flesh areas, but also the distinctive use of blue and green pigments, a technique typical of Rubens' method for rendering human skin.
A Prestigious Provenance
Before its sensational rediscovery, the painting was known to have a distinguished ownership history. Art expert Eric Turquin informed a packed auction house that the work had once belonged to the celebrated 19th-century French classic painter William Bouguereau before being passed down through his family. The sale, which took place on Sunday, 30 November 2025 at the Osenat auction house in Versailles, marks the triumphant return of a truly unique piece of art history to the public eye.
