Category: Discoveries
Michelangelo's Foot at Christie's New York in 2026
November 24 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's New York have shared news that they will be auctioning off the recently rediscovered study of a foot by Michelangelo which appears in the Sistine Chapel frescos.
According to their press release:
Very rarely new drawings have been rediscovered and added to Michelangelo’s graphic corpus over the decades. Almost all of Michelangelo’s known studies, excluding architectural drawings and the sketches of marble blocks Michelangelo used to send to his quarry masters, are now in public collections. Only about ten sheets, including this newly discovered drawing, are in private hands. Furthermore, no recorded study for the Sistine Chapel has ever come to auction — until now. [...]
Unknown until now, the sheet belongs to an important group of red-chalk figure studies that Michelangelo made from live models in preparation for the frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. These drawings are widely considered Michelangelo’s finest achievements in the medium.
The drawing will be offered on 5th February 2026 carrying an estimate of $1,500,000-2,000,000.
Unseen Renoir to be offered in Paris
November 6 2025
Video: PBS
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
American broadcasters have reported on news of an unseen Renoir that is coming up for sale at Drouot (via Christophe Joron-Derem) on 25th November. The picture depicts the young Jean Renoir, future filmmaker, and Gabrielle Renard, the painter's nanny and muse. It will be offered carrying an estimate of €1 - 1.5m.
Waterloo Veteran Portrait Reidentified by National Army Museum
October 22 2025
Picture: National Army Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Army Museum in London has shared new research which has revealed the sitter of a previously unidentified portrait relating to the Napoleonic period. The painting, which was acquired by the museum last year for £30,000 (sans attribution and identity), decpits Pte Thomas James a percussionist in the 18th Light Dragoons who was awarded the Waterloo medal.
According to The Guardian article linked above:
He fought in the Napoleonic wars and is one of only nine Black soldiers known to have received the Waterloo Medal, the first British medal awarded to soldiers regardless of their rank.
Yet the story of Pte Thomas James has been overlooked for centuries.
Now the National Army Museum in London has identified James as the likely subject of an “extraordinarily rare” painting from 1821, which it has attributed to the artist Thomas Phillips, whose more typical sitters were Georgian luminaries such as the Duke of Wellington and Lord Byron.
The portrait will be unveiled to the public on Tuesday at the museum’s “Army at Home” gallery in Chelsea, where it will be placed on permanent display to highlight the service of James and other Black soldiers during the Napoleonic wars.
Adam de Coster Reattributed
October 20 2025
Picture: Prado
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Spain that the ARS Magazine have published an article concerning the reattribution of the following Card Players in the Prado to the Flemish artist Adam de Coster. Written by Anne Delvingt, the museum had historically attributed the work to Gerrit Honthorst in the past.
Royal Collection Reidentifies Bust Modelled by Prince Albert's Daughter
September 22 2025
Picture: Royal Collection Trust
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Royal Collection Trust have shared news that a bust of Prince Albert modelled by his daughter Victoria (1840-1901), Crown Princess of Prussia, has been reidentified at Windsor Castle. New research on the marble, which had long been given to the sculptor Robert William Sievier, was undertaken by Jonathan Marsden who discovered that it was in fact Albert's daughter who had modelled it shortly after Albert's death in 1861.
According to their press release:
Prince Albert and his eldest daughter Princess Victoria had a close relationship, sharing a love for learning and the arts – sculpture in particular, with both known to give lengthy advice when commissioning new works. Like her sisters Princesses Alice and Louise, the Crown Princess took lessons in sculpting, and, perhaps fearing someone else would not do her ‘dear Papa’ justice, she created the posthumous bust with her tutor, Hugo Hagen.
Already involved in multiple commemorative projects across painting, architecture and sculpture, Princess Victoria felt the weight of responsibility. In a heartfelt letter to her mother Queen Victoria, she wrote from Berlin: ‘It is a work which completely engrosses me … I feel very nervous … I hope you will like it. How I wish you were here to give advice!’ The Queen’s reply came days later: ‘I like it extremely,’ adding only that the nose was a touch too thick. The Princess and her husband, the Crown Prince of Prussia, went on to give the sculpture to Queen Victoria for Christmas in 1864.
This discovery is featured within Marden's aforementioned new sculpture catalogue which will be on sale from tomorrow.
Emma Soyer reidentified at the Rollins Museum of Art
September 15 2025
Picture: Rollins Museum of Art
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Plymouth art dealer Dominic Sanchez-Cabello has written the following blog on a painting by Emma Soyer which has been reidentified in the Rollins Museum of Art in Florida (initially spotted carrying the wrong attribution by AHN's very own Bendor Grosvenor). The rediscovery is exciting as it transpires that Soyer's Young Bavarians was one of the pictures the artist's widower Alexis attempted to tried to leave to the National Gallery in London before his death in 1858. Click on the link to read the full story.
Hilliard Miniature of Earl of Southampton Rediscovered
September 9 2025
Picture: The Guardian
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm a little slow to news that broke over the weekend of a rediscovered miniature of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, by Nicholas Hilliard. Southampton is known for his friendship with William Shakespeare and may have been the 'fair youth' whom the bard dedicated many sonnets. The miniature, rediscovered by Emma Rutherford and supported by research from Dr Elizabeth Goldring, also bears a mysterious defaced heart on the reverse. Click on the link above the read more.
Rediscovered François Boucher Still Life up for sale in December
September 9 2025
Picture: Pescheteau-Badin
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The auction house Pescheteau-Badin in Paris have announced that they will be offering a rediscovered signed still life by François Boucher in December. The research of the work has been overseen by Cabinet Turquin and will be on display with Adam Williams Fine Art in New York from 30th September, in case any readers are in that part of the world this autumn. No estimate seems to have been published yet.
Rediscovered Laurent de La Hyre Coming Up in November
September 8 2025
Picture: La Gazette Drouot
Posted by Adam Busiakeiwicz:
La Gazette Drouot have drawn attention to a rediscovered early work by Laurent de La Hyre which is coming up for sale in November. The picture, which was last recorded in a mid-seventeenth century inventory, will be offered by Hôtel des Ventes Orléans- Madeleine carrying an estimate of €500,000 - 800,000.
Joan Carlile at Freize 2025
September 4 2025
Picture: Philip Mould & Co. / lawsons.com.au
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The dealers Philip Mould & Co. have announced on their website that they will be revealing a rediscovered work by Joan Carlile at Frieze 2025 (which opens on 15th October). Regular readers will remember the painting which came up for sale in Australia at the beginning of this year.
Click on the link above to see a better image of the freshly cleaned work, which is rather beautiful in the details.
Upcoming: Trois Crayons Museum Forum
July 10 2025
Picture: Trois Crayons
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news that the works on paper collective Trois Crayons will be launching a new online Museum Forum this summer, an initiative which will focus on the discussion of attributions of works in public collections.
According to their website:
The forum provides a space for curators and institutions to share lesser-seen and lesser-studied works from their collections—so-called ‘problem’ drawings—raising unresolved questions of attribution, sitter identity, dating, subject matter, and provenance. By opening these discussions to the global community of experts and enthusiasts, the platform enhances visibility and invites fresh perspectives on drawings that might otherwise remain in obscurity.
This free-to-use digital resource will harness the power of collective research and community collaboration, encouraging knowledge exchange and innovative approaches to longstanding art-historical challenges. Through crowd-sourced insights and collaborative scholarship, the Trois Crayons Museum Forum aims to deepen our understanding of Pre-Modern drawings and deepen public engagement with institutional collections.
Interested institutions are encouraged to get in touch with the organisers (more details are available via the link above).
Update - It has been pointed out to me that the Forum has just been launched and is filled with the many interesting works that are up for discussion. Click on the link above to access the site!
Zurbarán Exhibition at the National Gallery in 2026
June 26 2025
Picture: The National Gallery, London
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery in London have announced they will be staging an exhibition on Francisco de Zurbarán in 2026.
According to the gallery's website:
The first major monographic exhibition in the UK devoted to Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664), will open at the National Gallery next spring (2 May – 23 August 2026).
This exhibition is the first dedicated presentation of the artist’s paintings at the National Gallery since 1994 when the series of 'Jacob and his Twelve Sons' from Auckland Castle was shown in the Sunley Room. Several works by Zurbarán also featured in The Sacred Made Real, an exhibition held in 2009–10.
This exhibition of almost 50 paintings will span the chronological and iconographic breadth of the artist’s career. It will unite exceptional works from the collection of the National Gallery (including Saint Margaret of Antioch, A Cup of Water and a Rose and Juan de Zurbarán's Still Life with Lemons in a Wicker Basket) with paintings from the Musée du Louvre ('Saint Bonaventure on His Bier' and 'Saint Apollonia') and the Art Institute of Chicago ('The Crucifixion', 'Saint Romanus of Antioch' and 'Saint Barulas' and Juan de Zurbarán’s 'Flowers and Fruit in a Chinese Bowl'), the two partner museums to which the exhibition will travel between October 2026 and June 2027.
Previously Unknown Wright of Derby gifted to Derby Museum and Art Gallery
June 23 2025
Picture: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A reader has been in touch with news that The Derby Museum and Art Gallery have been gifted Joseph Wright of Derby's portrait of Edward Miller, which only recently came to light in a private collection on the Scottish borders.
According to the museum's website:
The portrait, which depicts Wright’s friend, the musician and composer Edward Miller, was discovered in 2024 by the Hall family while sorting through the belongings of a late relative at a home on the Scottish Borders – described by family members as a “treasure trove of antiques”.
Amongst over 20 family portraits, there were three whose identities were a mystery to the family. One bore a simple inscription on the reverse: ‘Wright’. A single clue to the mysterious identity of the artist.
Joy Hall, who first contacted Derby Museums about the discovery, told how the family had initially considered selling the Wright painting for the value of its frame, until the exceptional quality of one of the works caught her attention. Struck by the detail of the lacework and tassels, reminiscent of Wright’s early self-portrait in Van Dyck dress – also found at Derby Museum and Art Gallery – Hall began researching the artist, and it was here she stumbled upon Joseph Wright of Derby.
The painting is now on display alongside the other Wright of Derby masterpieces in the museum's care.
Prime Version of Caravaggio's Boy Peeling Fruit?
June 6 2025
Picture: Finestresullarte.info
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Both finestresullarte.info and elpais.com have reported on news that Gianni Papi, an Italian scholar on the 17th century who focuses on the works of Caravaggio (widely consulted in the art trade too), has found the original or prime version of Caravaggio's much repeated Boy Peeling Fruit. The work was apparently sold at auction 'in northern Europe' in 2024 and new x-rays purport to show that the artist had originally painted in a small dog to the scene (near where the boy's hands, fruit and shirt meet) which was later covered over. Follow the links for the full story.
For a backstory regarding this composition, here is Bendor's blog post from 2015 regarding a version that was offered for sale at Christie's (but didn't sell).
Update - A reader has very kindly been in touch with the following sale of an 'after' Caravaggio copy that made €135,000 at Horta in Belgium back in January 2024. Might this be the resurfaced picture?
Another Autograph Version of Guido Reni's David and Goliath Discovered
June 5 2025
Picture: Turquin
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The French art press have reported on news of the reappearance of another autograph version of Guido Reni's David and Goliath (of which many versions are known). The picture has been linked to a commission from the Duke of Modena (a provenance which was also claimed by this version which failed to sell at Sotheby's in 2012) which was later acquired by Eugene of Savoy and was eventually came into the collection of General Dupont at the end of the eighteenth century (click on the link above to read the full story). The discovery was unveiled by Turquin & Associates today.
The work will be offered for sale in November carrying an estimate of €2m - €4m.
Latest Burlington Edition
June 4 2025
Picture: burlington.org.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
June's edition of The Burlington Magazine is filled with quite a few interesting discoveries this month.
Here's a list of the main article contained within:
Art and diplomacy: the embassy of Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, to Spain and Portugal (1666–68) - By Angela Delaforce
Ribera’s philosophers from the Alcalá collection - By Florent de Vernejoul
Two royal portraits by Reynolds rediscovered in Kassel - By Justus Lange,Martin Spies
A rediscovered painting by Sofonisba Anguissola - By Michael Cole
An unpublished letter by Sir Joshua Reynolds - By Giovanna Perini Folesani
Guardi and the English tourist: a postscript - By Francis Russell
A newly discovered early photograph of Camille Claudel - By Sue Bucklow
Howard Burns (1939–2025)
Drawing by 11-year-old Joseph Wright of Derby Rediscovered
May 28 2025
Picture: The Art Newspaper
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper has shared news of this rather interesting rediscovered drawing by the 11-year-old Joseph Wright of Derby. The work on paper, which features within the Derby Museum's recently opened Joseph Wright of Derby: Life on Paper show, was unearthed in a private collection and is currently in the care of dealers Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker.
According to the article:
The head of Silenus is proudly inscribed “Jos Wright 11 Years”, and may have been copied from a print in a book from his father’s library—or, curator Lucy Bamford thinks, possibly from an inn sign in the city.
The exhibition, which contains no fewer than 50 works on paper by the artist, will run until 7th September 2025.
$78.8m in New York and a John Vanderbank in Wolverhampton
May 23 2025
Picture: Wolverhampton Art Gallery via. ArtUK
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
This was quite a week for the sale of Old Master Paintings. Totting up the recent four big sales in New York shows that $78.86m of art was sold during the past five days. Although less than forecasts had projected, this is still a rather colossal amount for a period which is usually considered 'mid-season' (not to mention the breaking of several artist records also). With lots of exciting announcements made for the July season in London, and surely many more to come, will 2025 be a record year for our small corner of the art world?
In less significant news, I've had the pleasure to spend quite a bit of time in the early-eighteenth century recently (for reasons I'll explain another time). One of the accidental 'finds' on my journey has been this beautifully painted head study by John Vanderbank (1694-1739). The Wolverhampton Art Gallery, where the picture has been since 1887, had catalogued it as by 'an unknown artist'. Vanderbank's vigorous brushwork, which he may have picked up whilst studying at Kneller's academy, is very distinctive along with the rather pointy face pattern he uses. It's quite possible this is a preliminary study for the full-length portrait of James, 2nd Duke of Hamilton, dated 1732, which was sold from Hamilton Palace in 1919 (2). An example, perhaps, that some artists really couldn't rise to the challenge of scaling up sometimes.
Wishing readers of AHN a very good weekend ahead.
Research on Rediscovered Medieval Panel from Hexham Abbey
April 18 2025
Picture: newsroom.northumbria.ac.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Northumbria University that a medieval panel, discovered in the triforium in Hexham Abbey back in 2017, has been the subject of a research project. Work undertaken by Dr Charis Theodorakopoulos, a heritage scientist at Northumbria University who was commissioned by the Abbey to look into the matter, will be unveiled in an online presentation on 30th April 2025 (more details via the link above).
Online Lecture on Paulus Potter Rediscovery
April 4 2025
Picture: icon.org.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Institute for Conservation (ICON) are hosting an online lecture on 5th June 2025 entitled Uncovering a Lost Masterpiece: The Hidden Story Behind Paulus Potter’s The Abduction of Europa.
According ot their website:
A long-lost monumental painting by Dutch master Paulus Potter has been rediscovered - thanks to a 1664 newspaper announcement!
Research has now linked Head of a White Bull, a fragment in the National Gallery of Ireland, to this forgotten work. Technical analysis has uncovered Europa herself, hidden beneath layers of overpainting. Once a grand mythological scene, the painting was cut down and altered over time, obscuring Potter’s rare foray into mythology.
This discovery not only expands his known oeuvre but also challenges the long-held belief that his genius was confined to animal depictions.
Non-members are welcome to join and booking details are available via the link above.
