Renaissance Painting Once Found in a Plastic Bag at a Bus Stop Could Sell for $32 Million at Auction

Italian artist Titian's 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' painting is going up for auction in July

• The painting, "Rest on the Flight into Egypt," by Italian Renaissance artist Titian could fetch almost $32 million when it goes to auction in July

• The artwork was previously found at a London bus stop in 2002 after being stolen seven years earlier

• The painting is thought to date back to the end of the first decade of the 16th century

A famous painting by Italian Renaissance artist Titian could fetch almost $32 million when it goes up for auction.

Per a press release obtained by PEOPLE, the artist's early masterpiece, "Rest on the Flight into Egypt," will headline Christie’s Old Masters Part I sale in London on July 2, 2024, coming to the market for the first time in over 145 years.

The auction house stated that buyers will be given the "rare opportunity" to "become part of the next chapter in this fabled picture’s remarkable story." It's estimated that the artwork will bring in between £15,000,000 and £25,000,000 (roughly $19 million to $32 million).

The painting was inspired by an event recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, in which Joseph was warned in a dream that Herod, the King of Judea, wanted to kill the young Christ, so then Joseph, Mary and their child headed to Egypt. The painting depicts the family taking a break presumably en route, per the auction house.

According to Christie's, "Rest on the Flight" is thought to date back to the end of the first decade of the 16th century and was likely painted by Titian when he was in his late teens or very early 20s.

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"One of the last religious works from the artist’s celebrated early years to remain in private hands, the picture has passed through some of the greatest collections in Europe and was last auctioned by Christie’s in 1878, before entering the collection at Longleat House," Christie's said of the painting, which was previously owned by Dukes, Archdukes and Holy Roman Emperors throughout the years.

In 1995, the painting — which was previously acquired by the 4th Marquess of Bath, U.K. in 1878 — made headlines after being stolen from the Longleat estate, the auction house shared.

After a £100,000 (almost $127,000) reward was announced, the painting was found by Charles Hill, a former Scotland Yard officer who was a leading art detective at the time, seven years later. It was discovered in a plastic bag at a bus stop in Greater London, minus the frame, Christie's confirmed.

In addition to the mid-'90s theft, painting was also stolen by Napoleon's troops from Belvedere Palace in Vienna back in 1809, The Independent reported.

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“This sublime early masterpiece by Titian is one of the most poetic products of Titian’s youth," Orlando Rock, Chairman of Christie’s U.K., said in a statement.

"This magical devotional painting has the rare notoriety of having been stolen not once but twice," Rock continued, adding, "We are honored to be entrusted with bringing this important and beautifully observed painting to the market in London this July."

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Andrew Fletcher, Christie’s Global Head of the Old Masters Department, said, “This is the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation and one of the very few masterpieces by the artist remaining in private hands."

Fletcher added that the painting is "a truly outstanding example of the artist's pioneering approach to both the use of color and the representation of the human form in the natural world, the artistic vocabulary that secured his status as the first Venetian painter to achieve fame throughout Europe in his lifetime and his position as one of the greatest painters in the history of Western art.”

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