His discovery had shaken the art world. Found by chance in the kitchen of an elderly lady in Compiegne (Oise) last June, the very rare painting of the Italian painter Cimabue (1272-1302) was awarded more than 24 million euros, including expenses, when an historic auction in Senlis, Oise.

"The Mocked Christ", whose value had been estimated between 4 and 6 million euros, has thus become the most expensive primitive painting sold in the world.

The auction house Actéon, which organized the sale, did not specify the profile of the purchaser of this masterpiece.

7th most expensive old painting sold in the world

Actaeon, which houses houses in Senlis, Chantilly, Compiegne, Lille and Paris, explained that this sale allowed the painting to be ranked in the 7th position of the most expensive old paintings sold in the world, "after Leonard's Salvator Mundi Vinci, the Massacre of the Innocents of Rubens, a Pontormo, a Rembrandt, a Raphael and a Canaletto. "

Among the eight bidders were museums. The auction started at 3 million euros.

The old lady, at whose home the work was kept, had reported it to the Acteon sales house in Compiegne, without being able to say where it came from.

The little painting, which shows Christ surrounded by a crowd of men with a snarling and grimacing expression, had been hanging for years between his living room and his kitchen, above a hot plate.

The family, who had always thought it was a banal icon, could have given it to Emmaus or a flea market.

One of the first evidence of Western art

Cenni di Pepo, known as Cimabue, is one of the greatest figures of the pre-Renaissance. Florentine painter, he assured the renewal of the Byzantine painting by breaking with his formalism and his images codified by the dogma.

Influenced by the Franciscan spirit, he opened the doors to the naturalism of the art of the pre-Renaissance, giving a soul to his characters and realizing the first perspectives.

This work is therefore one of the first evidence of Western art, which opens the way for the greatest painters such Giotto, disciple of Cimabue.

With AFP