In Zurich, found a new Goya

Goya’s early religious work of 80 years sagged unrecognized in a private collection. In September, he will be sold at the Koller auction in Zurich.

Goya’s paintings are rare: only ten of them have been put up for auction over the past 20 years. And such early works as this one, dating from the second half of the 1770s, are an unheard of rarity.

The canvas depicts a biblical scene - Lot and his daughters. It was written when Goya designed wall tapestries for the royal palaces of El Pardo and El Escorial. The painting was in the Bilbao collection until the twenties of the last century, after which it left Spain and came to its current owner.

The national value of this painting is so great that, if it were still in Spain, they simply would not have been given the right to export it. At the same time, Goya’s religious subjects are not as popular as his portraits or bullfighting scenes sold for millions. Recently found canvas is estimated at only 495-660 thousand euros.

The picture will be put up for auction on September 4, together with canvases by modern European expressionists.

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