Painting Once Found at Bus Stop Sells for $23 Million
Painting Once Found at Bus Stop Sells for $23 Million
01:49
10 июля 2024 г., 21:53
Описание
What do you do if you see an object in a plastic bag lying around at a bus stop? Most people would say: "Don't touch it!" That's very good advice — most of the time. But an object that was once found in a plastic shopping bag at a bus stop has just sold for $22.3 million at auction. It was a painting by a great artist from Venice known as Titian. It's called The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, and it has a long and interesting history. Although it's thought of as a masterpiece, it's one of the artist's smaller paintings. In fact, it's only 46 centimeters high and 63 centimeters wide. Titian painted it early in the 16th century, when he was 20. The painting, which depicts Jesus, Mary and Joseph from the Bible, has been owned by a number of rich and famous Europeans, including Austrian emperors. It was taken from Vienna in 1809 by French soldiers, although it was later returned to the Austrian capital. Later, it was bought by a British collector, but it was stolen in 1995. And for seven years it was lost. After a reward of almost $130,000 was offered to anyone who could find the painting, it turned up at a London bus stop. It had no frame when it was found by a well known art detective, but it was in quite good condition. It had been expected to make between $19 million and $32 million at auction in London. The final amount was a new record for a Titian painting. But that still might not be a good enough reason to go looking in plastic bags at bus stops!
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