Discovered: €4m Goya painting

2006-05-13 16:07

Malaga - A Spanish art expert has discovered a previously unknown painting by Spanish master Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) on Britain's Isle of Man.

Malaga-based expert, Paulino Gimenez, said "The Rope", acquired for €18 000 as an anonymous work 35 years ago, is worth about ;euro;4m.

The painting shows a woman, dressed in Roman-style clothing and holding a child, looking down from a window.

Gimenez believes the painting was painted by Goya around 1770, when he was an art student in Italy.

The painting belongs to a British private collector who bought it in London.

The owner began suspecting the painting might have a link with Goya and called Gimenez, whose 10-month investigation led him to establish that the painting bore the hallmarks of Goya - such as a face hidden in it.

Goya created several works "with the same characteristics, figures and composition", said Gimenez.

The work was painted on an Italian-made linen canvas, backing other evidence that Goya created it while in Rome, he said.

Gimenez has also found "The Immaculate" by Goya, a court painter whose bold and subversive vision made him "a visionary ahead of his time".

Goya's best-known works are "The Third of May 1808", "Saturn Devouring His Son", "The Nude Maja" and "The Clothed Maja."

- SAPA