October 1st 2024.
For decades, a painting had been hanging in a humble house in Pompeii, Italy. The owner's wife had always described it as "horrible," but little did they know that it was actually a valuable masterpiece. It was not until Luigi Lo Rosso stumbled upon it while clearing out his cellar in 1962 that its true worth was discovered.
Luigi, not recognizing the Spanish artist's signature in the top left corner, casually rolled up the painting and placed it in a cheap frame. He then hung it on his living room wall in his new home in Pompeii, much to the dismay of his wife. Despite her constant annoyance, the painting remained there for decades.
It wasn't until many years later, when Luigi's son Andrea received a gift of an encyclopedia of art history from his aunt, that the painting's true identity began to unravel. As he pored over the pages, Andrea couldn't help but suspect that the signature on the painting might belong to the famous artist, Pablo Picasso. With this realization, the family sought the help of local experts, including renowned art detective Maurizio Seracini.
After months of investigations, graphologist Cinzia Altieri, a member of the scientific committee of the Arcadia Foundation, confirmed that the signature did indeed belong to Picasso himself. She stated that there was no doubt about its authenticity and that the painting was an original created by the artist between 1930 and 1936.
The portrait, believed to be a distorted image of Picasso's former mistress Dora Maar, was valued at a staggering £5,000,000. Unfortunately, Luigi had passed away before the painting was authenticated, but his son Andrea was determined to continue his father's mission.
Andrea, now 60 years old, fondly remembers how his father used to collect junk from Capri to sell for a measly sum. He was not a cultured man and had no idea of the true value of the painting he had found. Andrea, on the other hand, had grown up reading about Picasso's works in the encyclopedia and had often compared the signature on the painting to the ones in the book. He had always believed that it was similar, but his father couldn't see it.
As time went by, Andrea's curiosity only grew stronger. His mother, still convinced that the painting was "horrible," wanted to get rid of it. But Andrea couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something special about it.
The painting is currently being kept in a secure vault in Milan as the family reaches out to the Picasso Foundation in Malaga, Spain, for the final word on its authenticity. It is believed to have been painted in the 1930s, during Picasso's tumultuous relationship with Dora Maar. The artist, who produced over 14,000 works before his death in 1973, continues to captivate and surprise the art world even today.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
