The Caravaggio That Almost Sold for €1,500

In 2021, a darkly powerful 'Ecce Homo' was listed at a Madrid auction with a starting price of just €1,500, catalogued as the work of a minor follower. Sharp-eyed experts raised the alarm, the sale was halted, and Spain blocked any export.

After careful study, the painting was confirmed as a genuine, long-lost masterpiece by Caravaggio — the revolutionary Italian who painted with shocking realism and theatrical light. Its value leapt into the tens of millions.

In 2024 the rediscovered canvas went on public display at the Prado in Madrid. It remains one of the most remarkable 'attic find' stories in recent art history.

Image: “Augustins -Ecce homo - Wenzel Coebergher” — Didier Descouens, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.