Painting by a Florentine artist Cimabue The 13th century “Mockery of Christ”, which was found in 2019 in the house of an elderly resident of the city of Compiegne in the north France, will be exhibited in the Louvre. About it reports The Guardian.
The painting hanging in the kitchen above the stove caught the attention of aspiring auctioneer Philomena Wolf, who was invited by the woman’s relatives. They believed that it was an ancient icon and wanted to know its price. Wolf realized that she was dealing with a masterpiece by the Florentine painter Cimabue.
In October 2019, the painting was sold to an unknown buyer for 24 million euros. However, immediately after the auction, the French government blocked the deal, and the work, dated 1280, was called a national treasure. For four years, the government has been raising money to buy the Mockery of Christ, and now it will be exhibited in the most famous museum in the world.
French Minister of Culture Rome Abdul-Malak and the director of the Louvre Museum, Laurence de Car, announced that Cimabue’s painting was now part of the museum’s collection. “This acquisition is the result of the exceptional efforts of the Louvre. “They make it possible to preserve for France works of art that are the envy of the world’s greatest museums, and to make them accessible to everyone,” their joint statement reads.
Experts know of only 15 works by Cimabue that have survived to this day. “The Mockery of Christ” will take place next to the painting “Maesta” by the Florentine master. Visitors to the Louvre will be able to see the new painting from the collection in the spring of 2025.
“The Mockery of Christ” is part of a diptych depicting eight episodes in the life of Christ. The painting “Madonna and Child with Two Angels” is in the London National Gallery, and “The Flagellation of Christ” is in the private collection of the Frick in New York.
Previously the family from Spain discoveredthat the painting, which had belonged to her for many decades, was an unknown work by the legendary 17th-century Flemish artist Anthony Van Dyck. The painting “Presentation of the Child Jesus to Saint Barbara” hung in the living room of a family from the Andalusian city of Jaén.
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