This highly sought-after artwork by the Renaissance maestro Titian is going up for auction in July. It was stolen twice, first in 1809 and then again in 1995, when it was found in a plastic bag at a bus stop in London.
At the age of just 20, the Venetian painter is said to have completed Rest on the Flight into Egypt around 1508. The picture, which is 2 feet wide on a wooden panel, shows Joseph observing as the Virgin Mary holds a baby Jesus in her arms.
It was originally recorded in the early 17th century as part of the collection of a Venetian spice merchant, and during the following centuries, it was possessed by several European aristocracy, emperors, and archdukes.
Christie's sold it at auction to the 4th Marquess of Bath in 1878, and the final marquess is having it auctioned by the same auction house in London on July 2. It's anticipated to bring in between £15 and £25 million.
Throughout its history, the artwork has been taken twice: first, by Napoleon Bonaparte's army from Belvedere Palace in Vienna in 1809, and later, in the mid-1990s, from Longleat House, the Wiltshire home of the Marquesses of Bath.
The artwork was "prized for its vividly coloured scene of familial affection within the natural world," according to an item on the Christie's website. It also stated that, "like its subjects, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt has been on a long and eventful journey – a journey that's far from over."
The painting's removal from the Longleat stately home's first-floor drawing room in 1995 was possibly the most flamboyant portion of the trip thus far. Charles Hill, a former head of Scotland Yard's art and antiques squad, discovered the painting—which was valued at over £5 million at the time—in a plastic shopping bag at a bus stop in Richmond after a seven-year search.
In exchange for a £100,000 prize, Hill, who passed away in 2021, said he had been guided to the location by a man who resembled a mix between Arthur Daley and Lovejoy, the renegade protagonists of two TV shows that aired in the 1980s and 1990s. In addition, Hill gained notoriety for assisting in the recovery of Edvard Munch's 1893 rendition of The Scream, which had been taken in 1994 from the National Museum in Oslo.
