This Painting Found in an Italian Villa’s Basement Could be a Picasso That’s Worth Millions

One man’s trash could be another man’s multimillion-dollar treasure.

Why You're Seeing More $1,000-Per-Night Hotel Rooms

An oil painting accidentally discovered by late junk dealer Luigi Lo Rosso at a dump site in Capri over 60 years ago may be an original Picasso, estimated to be worth approximately €6 million ($6.6 million) if it’s authentic, CNN reported . At the time, Lo Rosso actually stumbled across two canvases while searching in the basement of an Italian villa. However, only one of the works had the Spanish artist’s signature in the corner. He then took the rolled-up canvas with him back to Pompeii, framed it, and gave it to his wife as a gift.

“When mom hung it on the wall to decorate the house, renaming it ‘the scribble’ due to the strangeness of the woman’s face depicted, I wasn’t even born yet,” Lo Rosso’s son Andrea told CNN.

The asymmetrical portrait features Dora Maar, a French poet and Picasso’s longtime muse and mistress, sporting a blue dress and red lipstick. It wasn’t until the ‘80s that Andrea became suspicious of the painting after seeing the artist’s Buste de femme Dora Maar in a textbook in grade school. He then convinced his parents to begin the authentication process.

Meet George Rouy, the 30-Year-Old British Painter With a Knack for Making Things 'Bleed'

The family turned to Italy’s Arcadia Foundation for help, whose scientific committee often handles valuations, restorations, and attributions of famous works of art. They also registered it with Dr. Cinzia Altieri, a graphologist for a patrimony court in Milan, where the painting has been secured in a vault since 2019. It wasn’t until last month that Altieri certified the portrait as a Picasso. Honorary president of the Arcadia Foundation, Luca Gentile Canal Marcante, also believes that it’s legit.

“There is no doubt that the signature is his,” Altieri said in a statement to the Italian press. “There was no evidence to demonstrate its apocryphal nature.”

According to the experts, the painting could fetch millions based on the current art market. However, the next step is to present it to the Picasso Foundation in Málaga for appraisal. If proven to be an original, the certification would significantly increase the artwork’s value. For example, another one of Picasso’s Maar paintings hammered down for a record $95.2 million during a 2006 an event with Sotheby’s New York. At the time, it was the second-highest price ever paid for a piece of art at auction.

'The White Lotus' Season 3: Everything We Know