A family from the Marne discovers a painting by Fragonard in their living room

It is a divine surprise for this family from the Marne.

She discovered, in the living room of her apartment during a succession, a painting by the 18th century painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard.

A forgotten masterpiece, entitled

who had been sleeping there for a century.

The brushstroke is directly recognizable.

But it is above all the light and the colors that betray Fragonard in this magnificent portrait of a philosopher reading, his head tilted in front of a manuscript.

This magnificent painting, estimated between 1.5 and 2 million euros, will be auctioned at the end of June.

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A typical chiaroscuro of Fragonard

The oval canvas had been hanging in the living room of this family from the Marne for a hundred years.

"What struck me was the light, this chiaroscuro à la Fragonard, a very beautiful painting from the 18th century. I saw that the gilded frame was period", says the auctioneer, master Antoine Petit.

He also noticed "a small inscription which was on the back of the painting, very thin: 'Fragonard', in italics", allowing to remove the doubt.

"This ardor that comes out of the artist's stretched brush is inimitable"

When he saw the picture of the painting, the expert in old paintings Stéphane Pinta exclaimed: "name of a dog, it's fantastic!"

He had no doubts about the origin of this work of art.

"There is this fire which is unmatched. This rendering, this ardor that comes out of the artist's stretched brush, is inimitable. There is a gesture, a speed of execution that cannot be found anywhere else" , he says, still moved by the discovery. 

The painting 

dates from the 1770s, the height of Fragonard's career.

It will go on sale on June 26 in Épernay.