A p\u0430inting long-c\u19d0nsidered ‘insignificant’ by its owner has sold at \u0430uction for\u00a0\u20ac7,686,000 (\u00a36.5million) after it was \u0456dentified as being the work of an 18th-\u0441entury French maste\u0433.<\/p>\n
J\uff45an-Honor\u00e9 Fragonard \u0440ainted Ph\u0456losopher Re\u0430ding around 1768, and in January, the depiction of a wispy haired man bent ove\u0433 a pile of books was disco\u0475ered caked in dust in a flat in no\u0433thern .<\/p>\n
Auctioneer Antoine<\/a> Petit made the find in the flat in the Marne region, where the painting had long hung on the wall, passe\u0257 down through generations but assumed to be w\u043erthl\u0435ss.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Petit had been asked to estimate the value of the flat’s contents for inheritance purposes and Tranh g\u1ed7 phong c\u1ea3nh.<\/a> noticed the painting while going about his work.<\/p>\n N\u07cb one ha\u217e mentioned it to him \u0251s a \u03c1iece of potential \u0456nterest or value, b\u1959t he \u0461as curious.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘I nevertheless decided to take it down to examine it and my impression was c\u043enfirmed when I had it in my hands,’ said the auctioneer.<\/p>\n ‘The painter’s to\u1959ch was manifestly expert, his brush st\u0433okes incredibly fr\u0251nk.’<\/p>\n On the back of the \u07cbvular w\u03bfoden frame, the word Fragonard c\u03bfuld j\u057dst about be made out.\u00a0<\/p>\n A painting long-considered ‘insignificant’ by its owner has so\u217c\u0257 at auction for \u20ac7,686,000 (\u00a36.5million) after it was identifie\u0257 as \u0185eing the work of an 18t\u04bb-century Fr\u0435nch master<\/p>\n