The real subject of the article is the discovery of a masterpiece painting by the 19th century Italian artist Giovanni Boldini. However the part of the story that really enthralled me was how the painting came to be discovered.
The apartment had remained locked for over seventy years after the lady who owned the flat left for the south of France before the Second World War and never returned. The flat remained closed until she died and an inventory of her possessions was drawn up.
Nothing had been touched in the apartment and one expert said it was "like stumbling into the castle of Sleeping Beauty, where time had stood still since 1900".
The owner of the apartment's grandmother was Marthe de Florian, an actress with a long list of admirers. The love letters she received were kept, wrapped neatly in ribbon, and were still on the premises. Among her admirers was the 72nd prime minister of France, George Clemenceau, but also Boldini.
In amongst the ribbon-bound love letters was the calling card of Boldini, one of Paris’ most important painters of the Belle Époque. The woman pictured in the painting was Mme. de Florian’s grandmother, Marthe de Florian, a beautiful French actress and socialite. She was Boldini’s muse his lover.
The painting eventually sold for over £1.8 million at auction.
All pictures from The Telegraph
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