Spain blocks public sale of attainable Caravaggio portray with opening value of €1,500

Writing on Twitter, Tradition Minister Jose Manuel Rodriguez Uribes stated the portray had been declared “not for export… on suspicion it could be a Caravaggio”.

Entitled “Coronation with Thorns”, the canvas reveals Jesus earlier than his crucifixion and was attributed within the public sale catalogue to “the entourage of (Spanish artist) Jose de Ribera”.

Cultura declara “inexportable” un cuadro que iba a subastarse en Madrid al sospechar que puede ser de Caravaggio through @el_pais https://t.co/gTmux5n7nw

— José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes (@jmrdezuribes) April 8, 2021

Marked with a gap value of €1,500 ($1,800), it was to have been offered off on Thursday on the Ansorena public sale home in Madrid.

“Lot 229 has been withdrawn from the public sale so it won’t go underneath the hammer this afternoon,” an Ansorena spokeswoman instructed AFP.

“As to who painted it, completely different consultants are finding out the work and proper now we now have no additional data. The portray has been declared ‘not for export’ and will be unable to depart Spain.”

In 2014, a misplaced masterpiece by Caravaggio referred to as “Judith and Holofernes” was discovered underneath an outdated mattress within the attic of a home within the French metropolis of Toulouse.

The biblical-style canvas depicted a stupendous Jewish widow beheading a sleeping Assyrian basic.

With an estimated worth of as much as $170 million, the portray was as a result of go underneath the hammer in June 2019 however was snapped up by an nameless international purchaser simply two days earlier than the public sale.