Painting found on farm covered in bird droppings sells at auction for R$15 million

Once abandoned in a farm shed, a rediscovered painting by Belgian Baroque painter Anthony van Dyck has sold for more than $3 million at auction.

The piece found was a study for a later painting produced by the Flemish master called “Saint Jerome”.

The final painting is currently in the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The study, which depicts a nude older man sitting on a stool, is unique for a few reasons, according to the Sotheby’s auction society description.

It is one of only two major studies that van Dyck created from living models. It was probably painted between 1615 and 1618, according to Sotheby’s, while van Dyck was a young artist working alongside Peter Paul Rubens in Antwerp.

Oil painting also has an unexpected provenance. The study was only recently identified as the work of van Dyck, Sotheby’s said in a statement shared with the CNN .

The piece was discovered in the late 20th century in a farm shed in Kinderhook, New York, covered in bird droppings.

“The person who found it, Albert B. Roberts, was a passionate collector of ‘lost’ pieces, describing his collection as ‘an orphanage for lost art that has suffered neglect,’” the auction house said.

Roberts bought the abandoned painting for just $600, according to Sotheby’s.

But soon after, art historian Susan J. Barnes published an article in which she recognized the piece as a “surprisingly well-preserved” work by van Dyck.

The painting was sold for US$ 3.1 million last Thursday (26) – equivalent to R$ 15.84 million

The work was gifted to Sotheby’s by the Roberts estate and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Albert B. Roberts Foundation, which provides financial support to artists and other charities, according to the auction house.

The study was sold as part of Sotheby’s Thursday’s “Master Paintings Part I” sale, which also included works by Agnolo Bronzino, Titian and Melchior de Hondecoeter.