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El Greco's The Baptism of
Christ dates from 1567-70
(Agencies) | |
A 16th
Century painting by artist El Greco, valued at ￡500,000, has been
discovered in an envelope in Spain.
The Spanish family that has owned the oil-on-wood
portable altarpiece ,
The Baptism of Christ, since the mid-19th Century, did not know what they
had.
It was only discovered when they took it to a routine Christie's
valuation.
The auctioneers said it was a "wonderful, vibrant work" and came as a
"complete surprise". It will be sold by Christie's in London on 8
December.
El Greco, born in Crete, had a unique style, characterised by elongated
forms and bright colours, that inspired 20th Century painters such as
Cezanne, Picasso and Jackson Pollock.
The Baptism of Christ measures 23.7cm by 18cm and was found when a man
living in western Spain responded to an advertisement offering art
valuations, Christie's said.
"He obviously didn't realise what he had," a spokesman said. "It had
been in his family since the mid-19th Century and simply been ignored."
The auction house says it dates from El Greco's time in Venice, from
1567-70, and is an extremely rare example of his work from that period.
"To discover a painting of such beauty and importance came as a
complete surprise," according to the auctioneers.
"This painting originates from a particularly
exciting moment in El Greco's career, when the artist was still developing
what became his distinctive
style."
The news of its discovery comes just a week after another "lost" El
Greco work was put on display in Poland.
Ecstasy of St Francis was discovered in a small church in east Poland
during a routine check of historical artefacts in 1964.
(Agencies) |
畫家埃爾·格列柯早在16世紀創作的一幅作品在西班牙被發現，這幅現值50萬英鎊的作品是在一個信封中被發現的。
這個西班牙家庭從19世紀中期開始就擁有了這幅油彩木板便攜式祭壇畫《基督受洗圖》，但是他們并不知道這幅畫的價值。
當他們將這幅畫帶到倫敦克麗斯汀拍賣行參加日常拍賣時，才發現了它的價值。
拍賣商說這是一幅“令人驚奇的、色彩明快的作品”，它的出現太出乎意料了。12月8日，這幅作品將在倫敦克麗斯汀拍賣行公開拍賣。
出生于克里特島的埃爾·格列柯畫風獨特，以形象修長、色彩明快著稱。他的這個特點影響了一批20世紀的畫家，其中包括保羅·塞尚、畢加索和杰克遜·波洛克。
克麗斯汀拍賣行說這幅《基督受洗圖》長23.7厘米，寬18厘米。一位居住在西班牙西部的西班牙人看到了一則提供藝術品鑒定的廣告，想到試著鑒定一下這幅畫的價值，這幅畫才得以發現。
一位發言人說：“他顯然不知道他擁有的是多么珍貴的名畫。從19世紀中期開始，那幅畫就一直收藏在他家，只不過被忽略了。”
拍賣行說這幅畫是1567到1570年間埃爾·格列柯在威尼斯時創作的，是他那個時期作品中非常罕見的實例。
拍賣商說：“發現一幅這樣精美的、有價值的作品真是令人驚訝。”
“埃爾·格列柯創作這幅作品時正處于事業的顛峰期，當時他仍然在不斷發展自己獨特的畫風。”
就在人們得知基督受洗圖被發現前一周，另一幅“遺失”的埃爾·格列柯的作品在波蘭展出。
1964年，波蘭東部的一座小教堂在對歷史藝術品進行常規檢查時發現了埃爾·格列柯的作品《入迷的圣弗朗西斯》。
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2004-10-25 09:15