90-year-old almost threw this painting in trash. Turns out, it's a 13th century artwork worth $26 million

Art is known to stand the test of time and while some masterpieces are housed in famous museums and are a matter of pride for humankind, a few have been stolen or simply lost never to be found again. A 90-year-old French woman recently discovered a 13th-century masterpiece in her kitchen, which turned out to be worth millions of dollars. The woman, who initially thought it was simply junk, almost threw it away. Thankfully, her family decided to consult an expert who revealed its true value. 

The expert noticed the unusual depiction of Christ surrounded by people. Upon scrutiny, he realized that it was a long-lost painting, "Christ Mocked", by Cimabue who was a prolific Italian painter from the 13th century. This is one of his 15 paintings known to exist, which makes the art a rare masterpiece. The painting got its name for being a part of an eight-part diptych that shows eight scenes depicting the crucifixion and passion of Christ.

The 13th-century masterpiece was originally supposed to go to Chilean billionaires Álvaro Saieh Bendeck, an economist, and his wife Ana Guzmán Ahnfelt, an architect who later couldn't get it due to the French government's declaration of the art being a national treasure, and denied the painting for an export license.

The government then granted the Louvre Museum 30 months to raise the necessary funds for its acquisition. Recently, the museum and the painting's owners reached an agreement, securing the artwork's place in the Louvre's collection. The director of the Museum expressed his excitement about the agreement and stated that it was a "great joy" to have acquired the painting. While the amount that the museum paid for the painting is unknown, the Chilean billionaires were ready to pay around $26 million for the painting. 

Des Cars said Cimabue's "Christ Mocked" is a crucial milestone in the history of art, marking the fascinating transition from icon to painting. The painting is set to be presented in 2025 during the spring exhibition, alongside the Maestà, which is another painting by Cimabue which too belongs to the Louvre collections and whose restoration is currently on.

Giovanni Cimabue was an Italian painter and a designer of mosaics from Florence. He is regarded as one of the first great Italian painters to break from the Italo-Byzantine style. His works often had life-like figures and featured more sophisticated use of shading to suggest volume. Giovanni Cimabue is known to be the teacher of Giotto, who was the first artist of the Italian Proto-Renaissance. 

As early as 1543, Vasari wrote of Cimabue, "Cimabue was, in one sense, the principal cause of the renewal of painting," with the qualification that, "Giotto truly eclipsed Cimabue's fame just as a great light eclipses a much smaller one," via Internet Archive. 

Something similar happened with this Spanish family, who too were shocked to discover that a painting that had hung on the wall of their home for years was actually a painting by Flemish Baroque artist Anthony van Dyck and potentially worth millions. The painting called "The Presentation of the Baby Jesus to Saint Barbara," is believed to be from the 17th Century.