
Sandro Botticelli’s canvas was found at a family home in southern Italy, a local official said © Facebook / Nello D’Auria Top stories Money for Ukraine ‘desperately’ needed – White House Latest Top Stories More than 1,500 trucks stuck at Ukraine-Hungary border – media Internal EU rows threaten Ukraine’s $54 billion – FT US dominating global arms trade – data US warship attacked – Pentagon Pentagon chief revealed ‘military secret’ – ex-Russian president Why China loved Kissinger, the American empire’s guardian angel Op-ed Russian snow crab imports flood Japanese market – media .breaking-news[data-href=”‘Lost’ $100 million masterpiece rediscovered after half a century”] { display: none; }
A work by Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli thought to have been lost for 50 years has been found in the southern Italian town of Gragnano, local mayor Mayor Nello D’Auria announced last week. The painting, which depicts the Virgin Mary and infant Christ, is believed to be among the last by the master and is valued at around €100 million ($108 million).
According to CNN, the Botticelli had been kept in the Santa Maria delle Grazie chapel since the early 1900s, after the church it was originally given to was destroyed by fire. After an earthquake damaged the chapel in 1982, the parish gave the canvas to a local family for safekeeping with the official decree on file, the outlet said, citing a spokesman for the Italian Ministry of Culture.
For the first few years, local authorities monitored the condition of the canvas and helped the family move and clean it, but then the checks stopped and the piece was listed on the Ministry of Culture’s inventory of missing works, according to CNN.
While that list was being updated, traces of the painting were seen this summer, Commander Massimiliano Croce said during the presentation of the find. He noted that the family “will retain ownership of the work, but it will be kept in a museum.” (RT)