An unsigned 10x8 inch painting by Florentine painter Cenni de Pepo (also known as Cimabue) was discovered hanging above a hot plate in the home of an elderly French woman in Compiegne. Philomene Wolf, an auctioneer, discovered the tempera-on-panel painting when he was hired by the French woman to “give an expert view on the house contents and empty it”. Cimabue is hailed as the first truly great creator of Tuscan painting, and considered to be the forefather of the Italian Renaissance. Wolf referred the painting for confirmation to Eriq Turqain, an Old Master appraiser, as Hyperallergic detailed:
The work is now titled the Mocking of Christ, as Turquin believes it to be part of a small polyptych by Cimabue that also included the Flagellation of Christ and the Madonna and Child Enthroned between Two Angels. Part of the basis for this theory is a constellation of centuries-old tunnels created by a larval infestation of timber that comprises the panels.
Now Turquin, who is selling the painting in conjunction with Actéon, estimates that “Mocking of Christ” will to go for between €4 million and €6 million ($4.3–$6.5 million). Wolf, quoted in the Art Newspaper, denies the possibility of a pre-action sale, insisting on the public date in late October: “It will be sold only at auction. It’s going to be the first public result for Cimabue.”
image credit: Eric Turquin and Acteon via Hyperallergic