Rare painting, possibly worth millions, was just hanging in woman's kitchen, experts say

Rare painting, possibly worth millions, was just hanging in woman's kitchen, experts say

Art expert Stephane Pinta points to a 13th century painting by Italian master Cimabue in Paris, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. A rare 13th century painting by Italian master Cimabue has been found in a French kitchen, and is now expected to fetch millions of euros at an upcoming auction.

A rare painting from the Italian master Cimabue was found hanging in the kitchen of a woman outside Paris, local media reported.

"Christ Mocked," a work by the 13th century pre-Renaissance painter, was part of a larger display and could be valued between $4.4 to 6.6 million, art expert Éric Turquin told French newspaper Le Figaro.

The painting was found in the town of Compiègne after an auctioneer saw the work, which the woman had hung directly above a hotplate, and told her to have it appraised, said Stephane Pinta, a painting specialist with the Turquin gallery in Paris. The woman had thought the work was just an old religious work, the French news agency AFP reported.

The painting, about 8 inches by 11 inches, was part of a diptych that was broken up and included eight scenes from the Passsion of the Christ, Le Figaro reported. Two other sections, painted around 1280, are displayed at the Frick Collection in New York and the National Gallery in London.

Turquin told the AFP that art historians used infrared light to analyze the work and determined that there was "no disputing that the painting was done by the same hand" as Cimabue's other work.

The painting is slated to be auctioned Oct. 27 at the Acteon auction house in Senlis, France.

According to Le Figaro, none of Cimabue's paintings have ever been auctioned. 

The Florentine painter, also known as Cenni di Pepo, was hugely influential just before the Italian Renaissance began, and art journal The Art Newspaperdescribed him as "the father of Western painting."

MMW