A 1666 Dutch masterpiece spent decades hidden in a filthy Connecticut barn attic; after nearly 30 years, the forgotten painting sold for more than $7 million

In 1998, a painting covered in soot was discovered in a barn attic in Connecticut. George Wachter heard about it and unfolded the priceless treasure hidden behind the grime.

That treasure was a 360-year-old masterpiece of a Dutch artist named Frans Post, worth over $7 million.

Wachter, chairman and co-worldwide head of Old Master paintings at Sotheby’s (a destination to buy and sell exceptional art and luxury objects) told Robb Report that the painting was ‘filthy, black and dirty’ and one could barely see it.

Details of the painting

Frans Post, a 17th-century Dutch artist painted this masterpiece, titled as ‘View of Olinda, Brazil, with ruins of the Jesuit Church’.

Describing the story behind this painting, the Detroit Institute of Arts says, "In 1637 Frans Post accompanies Johan Maurits, count of Nassau-Siegen, to the Dutch colony of Pernambuco in Brazil. The view in this particular painting was completed years after his return to Holland."

Depiction

The painting depicts a church built in a tropical clearing, "perhaps the Jesuit church at Olinda, former capital of Pernambuco," says DIA. Post added lush native flora and fauna in this art piece.

The Detroit Institute of Arts states that the painting’s landscape setup in a serene atmosphere is disturbed by the image of a cobra eating a rabbit. This perhaps serves as a reminder that the New World could not totally be tamed.

Title: View of the Jesuit Church at Olinda Brazil ,1666

Medium: Oil on canvas

Artist: Frans Jansz Post

About the recovery

‘Wachter had a hunch about the oil on the panel,' writes Robb Report. He encouraged Saunderses to acquire it. He told the buyer, ‘This is a killer’ painting, and that it was bought by them due to their trust on him, as they couldn’t see it. ‘It was jet black’, said Wachter.

Wachter assumes that Frans' painting had probably been lying in the attic for 100 years. Eventually someone recovered it and consigned it to a London gallery. Wachter arranged the sale to the Saunderses from there.

Nancy Krieg, premier conservator of Dutch and Flemish paintings at New York restored this breathtaking masterpiece. Watcher explained that Krieg carefully cleaned the painting with cotton swabs and solvents, revealing it inch by inch, and as the blue and white sky of the landscape got visible, "It was just incredible."

The piece held a unique place in the history of art, so Sotheby’s estimated the cost somewhere in between $6 and $8 million.

The journey

Head of Old Master paintings at Sotheby's, David Pollack said that Frans Post painted it from memory or sketches and that this would be one of his greatest works. He added that this masterpiece was bought in the 19th century by the dealer Charles Simon for 160 francs, maybe for Cardinal Joseph Fesch, Napoleon Bonaparte's uncle, and an art lover. Before reaching Fesch, it had been passed through many art collections in Paris during the 1700s.

The piece then continued its journey further to a private collection in Connecticut. It’s unclear how it reached the barn or when.