Updated on: December 1, 2025 / 7:37 AM EST / CBS/AP
A long-lost painting by Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens, hidden for more than four centuries, sold for $2.7 million at an auction in Versailles on Sunday. The work, recently discovered in a private Paris townhouse, depicts the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Previously part of a French collection, the painting had been thought to come from one of Rubens’s many workshops and was rarely valued above about $11,500. Auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat said he immediately suspected it might be an original and pursued authentication. The Rubenianum, the Rubens committee in Antwerp, ultimately confirmed its attribution.
German art historian Nils Büttner, noted for his research on Rubens, authenticated the work after examining its provenance and conducting scientific tests including X-ray imaging and pigment analysis. Osenat and experts described the picture as a masterpiece created when Rubens was at the height of his powers.
Büttner noted that while Rubens painted many crucifixions, he seldom showed Christ as a dead body on the cross. “This is the one and only painting showing blood and water coming out of the side wound of Christ, and this is something that Rubens only painted once,” he said.
Microscopic analysis of the paint layers found not only the usual white, black and red pigments for flesh tones but also blue and green pigments Rubens typically used in skin modeling, supporting the attribution. Art expert Eric Turquin told the auction room the painting had essentially disappeared from view in the early 1600s; it resurfaced in the 19th century in the possession of French academic painter William Bouguereau before remaining in his family until its recent discovery.
Measuring 42 by 29 inches, the work was likely created for a private collector rather than a church commission. The sale comes amid a flurry of high-profile auction results in recent weeks, including a previously unknown Renoir that sold for $2.08 million in Paris, a Frida Kahlo self-portrait that fetched $54.66 million in New York, and a Gustav Klimt canvas that sold for $236.4 million.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
