As one of the corking artists to emerge from the German Renaissance , painter and printmakerAlbrecht Dürercreated works thatare today worthhundreds of thousands — if not millions — of dollar bill . But one collector , The Guardianreports , managed to grease one’s palms a lose oeuvre by Dürer for only a few euros at a secondhand market in Sarrebourg , France . Instead of cashing in on the serendipitous uncovering , the lucky customer donated it to theStaatsgalerie Stuttgart , an art museum in Stuttgart , Germany .
date 1520 , the work is a copperplate engraving titledMaria coronate by an Angel . It depicts the Virgin Mary hold the babe Jesus as an angel places a crown on her head .
The finder — an nameless put out Gallic archaeologist — discovered the etching in a flea food market stall . The vendor had reportedly cleared the work out of one of the townspeople ’s houses . Long ago , it had belonged to one of Sarrebourg ’s surrogate mayors .
The market vendor was incognizant of the etching ’s true economic value . But the archeologist find the Staatsgalerie ’s stamp on the back , The Telegraphreports , and found it in a database of missing works . Last week , he and his married woman personally travel to the museum to pass the body of work — but he make up one’s mind to keep the contribution anonymous .
Naturally , the Staatsgalerie was thrilled . The engraving had vanish sometime around the close of World War II and was considered lose for decades . Experts trust the artwork make it in France sometime after 1945,artnet News reports . It ’s still in good condition — likely because its previous owners wrapped it in newspaper to maintain it .
“ We are very grateful that , after more than 70 year , the work came to the hands of an art lover who did not keep his worthful breakthrough for themselves , but returned it to the public instead , ” the museum ’s director Christiane Lange said in a statement on Thursday , quote by artnet News .
[ h / tThe Guardian ]
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