Renaissance Masterpiece Found at Bus Stop After Theft, Sold for 30.8 Billion Won

Titian Vecellio 'Resting While Fleeing to Egypt'
Highest Price Achieved for Vecellio's Work at Christie's Auction

A painting by Renaissance master Titian Vecellio, which suffered the misfortune of being stolen twice over more than 200 years, was sold at auction for ?17.5 million (approximately 30.8 billion KRW).

On the 3rd (local time), the American CNN reported that at the Christie's auction held in London, UK, the 16th-century work "Rest on the Flight into Egypt" by Vecellio (estimated 1488 ~ 1576) was sold for ?17.5 million (approximately 30.8 billion KRW), the highest price ever for his works.

On the 28th of last month (local time), Titian Vecellio's painting "Resting During Flight to Egypt" was released.
[Photo by EPA Yonhap News]

Nicknamed the "Prince of Painters," Titian Vecellio was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school, famous for his use of vibrant colors. He excelled in both portrait and religious paintings and enjoyed great honor during his lifetime. His representative works include "Assumption of the Virgin" and "Portrait of Emperor Charles V."

The painting featured in this auction is estimated to have been completed around 1508, during Vecellio's early career. The artwork depicts a scene where the Virgin Mary and Joseph, aware that King Herod intended to kill the infant Jesus, take a brief rest while fleeing to Egypt with Jesus. This piece is also famous for enduring several misfortunes over 200 years since the 1800s. It was stolen twice and, in the 2000s, was even found wrapped in a plastic bag at a bus stop in London, UK.

Originally, this painting was owned by a European noble in Vienna, Austria, in the early 19th century. However, in 1809, when France occupied Vienna, the Napoleonic army looted the painting and took it to Paris. Six years later, in 1815, the painting was returned to Vienna, but after changing owners several times, it eventually came into the possession of a noble family in the UK. Displayed at the noble estate in Wiltshire, England, the painting was stolen again in 1995. It remained missing for seven years until it was found in 2002 at a bus stop in London, wrapped in a plastic bag.

Regarding the auction result, Orlando Rock, Chairman of Christie's UK, praised it as "a flawless origin and a tribute to the quiet beauty of this sublime early masterpiece, one of the most poetic works painted by Titian Vecellio in his youth."