Art historian Bendor Grosvenor and a team of experts discovered a painting that may have been painted by the famous artist Raphael. They were researching the show “Britain’s Lost Masterpieces” and made the discovery while studying  one of the episodes. This painting was bought for $25 in 1899 and could be an original Raphael worth $26M.

In the late 1800’s, a painting of the Virgin Mary was believed to be a genuine copy and was sold for $25, which equates to about $2,574 in modern day pricing. Although originally underestimated, this painting is now being questioned and considered a potential genuine Raphael painting. If this is true, then it really is worth $26 million.

Raffaello Sanzio, also know as Raphael, was born on April 6, 1483, in the town of Urbino, Italy. He was both a painter and an architect during the High Renaissance period. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement/accurate representation of standards of his time period.

Bendor Grosvenor, the historian who made the discovery, is an art historian and the presenter for the BBC’s “Britain’s Lost Masterpieces” TV series. As the presenter, he searches for valuable or undiscovered art pieces in local shows and exhibits. He and his team of experts were in the process of examining the collection at the National Trust for Scotland’s Haddo House in Aberdeenshire when they discovered this masterpiece.

The painting, dated between 1505 and 1510, was believed to be created by Innocenzo da Imola, an Italian artist. It was requested for the painting to be professionally cleaned and investigated after spotting similarities in the tendencies present in the painting and present in Raphael’s work. “Finding a possible Raphael is about as exciting as it gets,” Grosvenor remarks. “This is a beautiful picture that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. I hope ‘the Haddo Madonna,’ which would be Scotland’s only publicly-owned Raphael, brings many people to this part of Aberdeenshire.”

George Hamilton Gordon was the original buyer of “The Virgin Mary” painting in the late 18th century. He was a former British Prime Minister and the 4th Earl of Aberdeen.

More information can be found at http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/03/arts/painting-bought-for-25-dollars-could-be-an-original-raphael/