A long-lost work by Peter Paul Rubens, the 17th-century Baroque-era "king of painters," has gone up for auction.
According to foreign media including the daily Le Parisien on the 1st, the previous day at the Versailles Osenat auction house, Rubens' "Christ on the cross" came up and was sold for 3 million euros (about 5 billion won), including fees.
Christ on the cross is believed to have been painted by Rubens in 1613. It was discovered by chance on Sept. 2024 during the sale of a mansion in Paris' 6th arrondissement, after more than 400 years.
Jean-Pierre Osenat, head of Osenat Auction House, which found the work, told Le Parisien earlier that it "shows the beginning of Baroque painting and was painted by Rubens at his peak."
After receiving authentication as an original from a Rubens research institution, it was put up for auction that day. However, how this work by Rubens, who was from Flanders, came into France remains a mystery.
Rubens' works, meanwhile, draw interest whenever they come up for auction. In 2023 at a Sotheby's auction in New York, Rubens' "The head of Saint John the Baptist presented to Salome" sold for about 39 billion won.