Bird poop-covered painting bought for $600 auctioned for $3 million

This painting by Belgian portraitist and painter Dyck was sold for $3.1 million at an auction by Sotheby's on Thursday

A rare Anthony van Dyck painting that was forgotten with time and was covered with bird poop has been sold for a staggering $3 million. The owner of the 17th century painting had originally bought it for $600.

This painting by Belgian portraitist and painter Dyck was sold for $3.1 million at an auction by Sotheby’s on Thursday, CNN reported.

The Van Dyck painting was once abandoned in a farm shed, covered with bird poop in Kinderhook, New York. This rediscovered art piece is a study for a later painting ‘St Jerome’, produced by the Flemish master, said CNN. The final painting is currently with Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

The painting portrays a nude older man sitting on a stool. According to Sotheby’s listing, it is one of the two large paintings that the painter crafted from live models. It is likely that it was painted between 1615 and 1618.

According to auction house Sotheby’s, “The person who found it, Albert B Roberts, was a passionate collector of ‘lost’ pieces, describing his collection as ‘an orphanage for lost art that had suffered from neglect.”

Sotheby’s shared with CNN that Roberts bought the deserted painting for only $600. But shortly after, art historian Susan J Barnes published an article in which she recognised the piece as a “surprisingly well preserved” Van Dyck work.

The study was sold as part of Sotheby’s ‘Master Paintings Part I’ sale on Thursday, which also included works by Agnolo Bronzino, Titian and Melchior de Hondecoeter.

Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist which means he used to paint in the Southern Netherlands during Spanish control in the 16th and 17th centuries.

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