PARIS — A 17th-century painting by Peter Paul Rubens, long believed lost, fetched 2.3 million euros ($2.7 million) Sunday at the Osenat auction house in Versailles after being rediscovered in a Paris townhouse. Titled Christ on the Cross and dated to 1613, the canvas had disappeared from public view soon after its creation and was known only through engravings and printed reproductions.
Auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat found the work during a routine inspection of a Paris residence in September 2024. “It is a masterpiece,” Osenat told AFP after the discovery, noting the painting’s “very good condition.” At first some specialists thought the picture might have come from one of Rubens’ workshops, where the master and his assistants often collaborated, but Osenat pursued full authentication.
He brought the canvas to the Centrum Rubenianum in Antwerp for scientific study. German art historian and Rubens specialist Nils Büttner carried out the analysis and confirmed the attribution, reportedly calling Osenat with the words, “Jean-Pierre, we have a new Rubens!” The authentication included microscopic examination of the paint strata; the investigators found blue and green pigment layers consistent with Rubens’ known technique for rendering skin tones.
The last recorded owner was 19th-century French academic painter William Bouguereau; the work remained in his family until its recent emergence. Born in 1577, Rubens became a central figure of the Flemish Baroque, celebrated for dramatic lighting, lifelike realism and meticulous detail—qualities now visible again in this long-lost crucifixion scene.