Four hundred years ago, a painting by Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens’s disappeared. The painting had been displayed to the public in 1613 but disappeared soon after, falling into obscurity and was not seen again for over 400 years. Auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat rediscovered it in September 2024 while doing a routine inspection of a house he was preparing to sell. “I immediately had a hunch about this painting, and I did everything I could to try to have it authenticated. And finally, we managed to have it authenticated by the Rubenianum, which is the Rubens committee in Antwerp,” Osenat said. He described the painting as being painted “at the height of [Rubens’s] talent.” “It’s the very beginning of baroque painting, depicting a crucified Christ, isolated, luminous and standing out vividly against a dark and threatening sky,” Osenat said.

Very little had been known about the painting other than that a peer of Rubens had made and engraving of it. It is believed it was a work Rubens later abandoned. Rubens had often painted Christ, his “Christ on the Cross” being particularly noted, but this painting in particular is exceptional due to its raw depiction of Christ on the cross. “So, this is the one and only painting showing blood and water coming out of the side wound of Christ, and this is something that Rubens only painted once,” said German art historian Nils Büttner.

The piece sold at auction for a record $2.7 million at the Osenat auction house. Osenat stood by the authenticity of the painting through scientific analysis, including microscopic examination of the painting’s layers. “Hidden for centuries, the painting has undergone scientific analysis confirming its authenticity and provenance,” declared the auction house. “The work depicts a religious scene of rare intensity, a testament to Rubens’ virtuosity in composition, movement, and light. It perfectly illustrates the synthesis between spiritual fervor and the powerful plasticity characteristic of his style.” Art expert Eric Turquin believed the painting came into the hands of 19th-century French classic painter William Bouguereau at some point. Afterward it may have been passed down through family until it wound up at the Paris townhouse. Another work by Rubens, entitled “A Satyr holding a Basket of Grapes and Quinces with a Nymph” sold at auction for $6 million in 2018.