Student Finds Italian Treasure in Old Sofa
November 30, 2007
A German student who bought a battered fold-up sofa
at a flea market has sold a 17th century Italian
painting she discovered tucked inside it for 19,600
euros (28,200 dollars).
"I opened the sofa and there was a painting. I immediately knew it was valuable but I had no idea that I would get that much for it," Ulrike Eisenhardt, 22, who is studying economics in Berlin, told on AFP on Tuesday.
The canvas, which was wrapped up in old rags, is titled "Preparing the Flight to Egypt" and believed to be the work of pupils of Venetian early-Baroque master Carlo Saraceni.
Eisenhardt said art experts approached by her grandfather had estimated its value at around 6,000 euros before it was sold by the art auction house Ketterer Kunst in Hamburg at the weekend.
She said she would use the money to pay for her studies.
"I opened the sofa and there was a painting. I immediately knew it was valuable but I had no idea that I would get that much for it," Ulrike Eisenhardt, 22, who is studying economics in Berlin, told on AFP on Tuesday.
The canvas, which was wrapped up in old rags, is titled "Preparing the Flight to Egypt" and believed to be the work of pupils of Venetian early-Baroque master Carlo Saraceni.
Eisenhardt said art experts approached by her grandfather had estimated its value at around 6,000 euros before it was sold by the art auction house Ketterer Kunst in Hamburg at the weekend.
She said she would use the money to pay for her studies.
