October 2, 2019

Renaissance masterpiece discovered in French woman’s kitchen

An early Renaissance masterpiece was discovered in the kitchen of an elderly woman’s home in Northern France a few months ago, having gone unnoticed by its owner who assumed it was a common religious painting.

The piece, titled “Christ Mocked,” is estimated to be worth between €4-6 million and is believed to be painted by Cimabue in the 13th century.

Art expert Eric Turquin inspects the painting “Christ Mocked,” a long-lost masterpiece by Florentine Renaissance artist Cimabue in the late 13th century, which was found months ago hanging in an older woman’s kitchen in the town of Compiegne, displayed in Paris, France, Sept. 24, 2019. Credit: Charles Platiau/Reuters

The owner, a woman in her 90s who wanted to remain anonymous, had hung the painting over a hot plate in her kitchen for many years where it aroused no suspicion from friends and relatives who all assumed the painting was a standard religious icon.

This June, when the owner decided to sell her house, the painting would have been thrown out had it not been noticed by an auctioneer visiting the home.

Despite its position over the hot plate, “Christ Mocked” appears to be in good condition, and it is one of 11 total pieces that can be attributed to Cimabue, who was considered the father of modern painting.

“In the world of art history, this is seriously important,” Xavier Salomon, Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator at the Frick Collection in New York told PRI’s The World radio program. “[Cimabue] is described in all the sources as the teacher of Giotto and with Giotto is sort of the beginning of European art … of Western painting, as we think of it,” he added. “So if you think of a 13th-century artist whose name is a sort of mythical name, to be able to find a new, previously [undiscovered] work by that artist is an unbelievable piece of news.”

This painting appears to be part of an eight-piece diptych depicting Christ’s passion and crucifixion. Two of the eight have already been discovered and are on display at the Frick Collection in New York and the National Gallery in London.

The painting “Christ Mocked,” center, a long-lost masterpiece by Florentine Renaissance artist Cimabue in the late 13th century, was was found months ago hanging in an elderly woman’s kitchen in the town of Compiegne. It is displayed in Paris, France, on Sept. 24, 2019, alongside copies of two other Cimabue paintings thought to be part of the same diptych. On the left is “The Virgin and Child with Two Angels,” which belongs to the National Gallery, and on the right is “The Flagellation of Christ,” which is part of the Frick Collection in New York. Credit: Charles Platiau/Reuters

According to The Guardian, the National Gallery said Cimabue’s work represented “a crucial moment in the history of art” when Byzantine painting was still influencing Italian painters. In this period, painters began exploring naturalistic depictions of the human form and using three-dimensional space.

Infrared light testing confirmed that the painting was done by Cimabue, meaning there are five more paintings in the set that have yet to be found.

“Christ Mocked” will be sold at the Acteon auction house on October 27.

–Becca Most