Long-lost masterpiece found in French kitchen heads to the Louvre

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The Louvre Museum in Paris has added a “national treasure” to its collection four years after it was discovered during a house clearance.

“Christ Mocked” by the Florentine painter Cimabue was found in an elderly woman’s house in the town of Compiegne in 2019. She had kept the rare artwork – which she thought was a Greek religious icon – in her kitchen.

The unsuspecting owner of the piece did not know where the 10-inch by 8-inch painting had come from, said Jerome Montcouquil of art specialists Cabinet Turquin, which was asked to carry out tests on the painting following its discovery, at the time.

“Christ Mocked” is part of a diptych comprising eight scenes centered on the passion and crucifixion of Christ.

Source - https://www.arthistorynews.com/categories/Discoveries, https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/16/style/cimabue-painting-louvre-scli-intl/index.html. 

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@Okinawa I know it's different to our other discussions, but it kinda relates to France's reputation as a culture hub.  Also the art of Cimabue is super similar to the art of Eastern Europe (you could absolutely see paitings like these in Serbia, Russia or Ukraine).

[Ayesha Erotica 1,924]

37 minutes ago, FfFfFfFF said:

@Okinawa I know it's different to our other discussions, but it kinda relates to France's reputation as a culture hub.  Also the art of Cimabue is super similar to the art of Eastern Europe (you could absolutely see paitings like these in Serbia, Russia or Ukraine).

I'm going to tell you a secret: when I first signed up here on GagaDaily in year 2015, my very first nickname was Louvre. You wouldn't have thought that, would you, @Okinawa is an expert of France, the country, and its language, which now comes as a surprise after our Eastern Europe discussions. Ironically, I have seen the front of the Louvre museum in real life in Paris, but we, me and our two French classes on our trip to Paris and Southern France, were not inside. Our teacher said "Louvre is too much, we can spend hundreds of hours there, we do not have enought time for that" - insteat we visited the Château de Versailles inside where king Louis XIV (Roi de soleil) ruled and there likewise are so many cultural exhibits that we were all overloaded, and I still remember the beautiful garden of the castle, which actually feels more like a XXL villa than a castle.

And by the way, on our trip to southern France we were driving with a bus and it took many hours and meanwhile we were surpassed by a TGV (high speed train) and I asked the teacher why didn't we take the train, too, and he said "too expensive", then I stopped asking. Before, we had lectures about the TGV and our French book was about it and then I was like "what the fûck, what is the purpose of getting taught about the TGV when normal people won't use it either way"

 

 

 

[Guillaume Hamon 6,984]

35 minutes ago, Okinawa said:

I'm going to tell you a secret: when I first signed up here on GagaDaily in year 2015, my very first nickname was Louvre. You wouldn't have thought that, would you, @Okinawa is an expert of France, the country, and its language, which now comes as a surprise after our Eastern Europe discussions. Ironically, I have seen the front of the Louvre museum in real life in Paris, but we, me and our two French classes on our trip to Paris and Southern France, were not inside. Our teacher said "Louvre is too much, we can spend hundreds of hours there, we do not have enought time for that" - insteat we visited the Château de Versailles inside where king Louis XIV (Roi de soleil) ruled and there likewise are so many cultural exhibits that we were all overloaded, and I still remember the beautiful garden of the castle, which actually feels more like a XXL villa than a castle.

And by the way, on our trip to southern France we were driving with a bus and it took many hours and meanwhile we were surpassed by a TGV (high speed train) and I asked the teacher why didn't we take the train, too, and he said "too expensive", then I stopped asking. Before, we had lectures about the TGV and our French book was about it and then I was like "what the fûck, what is the purpose of getting taught about the TGV when normal people won't use it either way"

 

 

 

Next time you come in France tell us so we french monsters can guide you! 👋

[Red 99,106]

Please God, let me find a Renaissance painting in my kitchen, I need to pay my bills 😭

[Anderson123 42,661]

15 minutes ago, Red said:

Please God, let me find a Renaissance painting in my kitchen, I need to pay my bills 😭

[FfFfFfFF 58,082]

27 minutes ago, Red said:

Please God, let me find a Renaissance painting in my kitchen, I need to pay my bills 😭

Me trying not to write a whole art history essay on whether or not this painting counts as Renaissance (short answer: it doesn't)

[FfFfFfFF 58,082]

2 hours ago, Okinawa said:

I'm going to tell you a secret: when I first signed up here on GagaDaily in year 2015, my very first nickname was Louvre. You wouldn't have thought that, would you, @Okinawa is an expert of France, the country, and its language, which now comes as a surprise after our Eastern Europe discussions. Ironically, I have seen the front of the Louvre museum in real life in Paris, but we, me and our two French classes on our trip to Paris and Southern France, were not inside. Our teacher said "Louvre is too much, we can spend hundreds of hours there, we do not have enought time for that" - insteat we visited the Château de Versailles inside where king Louis XIV (Roi de soleil) ruled and there likewise are so many cultural exhibits that we were all overloaded, and I still remember the beautiful garden of the castle, which actually feels more like a XXL villa than a castle.

And by the way, on our trip to southern France we were driving with a bus and it took many hours and meanwhile we were surpassed by a TGV (high speed train) and I asked the teacher why didn't we take the train, too, and he said "too expensive", then I stopped asking. Before, we had lectures about the TGV and our French book was about it and then I was like "what the fûck, what is the purpose of getting taught about the TGV when normal people won't use it either way"

 

 

 

I know someone who visited Versailles and said it was overwhelmingly crowded, she wasn't even able to take good pictures inside (she said it was more peaceful outside and that she spent enjoyable time there). If Versailles is the ''less overwhelming'' option of the 2, that says a lot.  I myself believe the art of Versailles is stunning.

2 hours ago, Okinawa said:

(Roi de soleil)

In Romanian it's Regele soarelui. Tying it back to our other discussion, many want to downplay the Latin character of Romanian by saying Moldova and Wallachia simply adoped French loanwords in the 19th century. But both of these words are clear Romanian-French cognates and both are part of the core historical vocabulary. 

[Red 99,106]

2 hours ago, FfFfFfFF said:

Me trying not to write a whole art history essay on whether or not this painting counts as Renaissance (short answer: it doesn't)

As long as it's rare and expensive it can be painted yesterday 😭

[Chlorine 47,976]

But I've never been to France, how could they have found me in that kitchen? 

[dit 46,738]

9 hours ago, FfFfFfFF said:

“Christ Mocked” is part of a diptych comprising eight scenes centered on the passion and crucifixion of Christ.

 

This is like those games where you have to collect all the gems to unlock some secret powers  

[Roughhouse Dandy 13,605]

Why is Jesus pole dancing? Sexy little minx

[Helxig 45,334]

11 hours ago, FfFfFfFF said:

She had kept the rare artwork – which she thought was a Greek religious icon – in her kitchen.

This part is so funny  

Also this is such a weirdly common thing. Elderly people just have these works of art, don't know where they came from, and just thought they were a 'nice picture to hang in the living room'. I've heard of this before

The mystery for me is how did they come to own them?? Passed down through generations and the significance was lost over time? Found at a second hand store and noone involved knew the real worth of it? Found it hidden in their 200 year old cottage where it has lived hidden ever since it was made? Someone in their family is an art smuggler/trader and gave it to them as a way to hide it in plain sight? Who fricken knows

[FfFfFfFF 58,082]

On 12/16/2023 at 5:41 AM, Helxig said:

This part is so funny  

Also this is such a weirdly common thing. Elderly people just have these works of art, don't know where they came from, and just thought they were a 'nice picture to hang in the living room'. I've heard of this before

The mystery for me is how did they come to own them?? Passed down through generations and the significance was lost over time? Found at a second hand store and noone involved knew the real worth of it? Found it hidden in their 200 year old cottage where it has lived hidden ever since it was made? Someone in their family is an art smuggler/trader and gave it to them as a way to hide it in plain sight? Who fricken knows

Acording to what I found, the pieces of the Diptych were sold on the art market in the 1800s. So the woman who had it in her kitchen probably received the icon from her ancestors who bought it and over generations its story and origins were forgotten. It would have been cool if her family had it from the 1200s though. 

[Helxig 45,334]

5 minutes ago, FfFfFfFF said:

Acording to what I found, the pieces of the Diptych were sold on the art market in the 1800s. So the woman who had it in her kitchen probably received the icon from her ancestors who bought it and over generations its story and origins were forgotten. It would have been cool if her family had it from the 1200s though. 

If so, still cool that a priceless masterpiece was in her family for 200 years!