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A painting attributed to 17th Century Roman artist Pietro Testa sold two years ago by Sotheby's in London for US $ 260,000 was in fact a major work by Poussin which might be worth US $ 17 million. The painting, believed to represent the pillaging of Carthage, belonged to the heirs of Ernest Onians, a businessman who made a fortune in the ham industry and was offered for sale in October 1995 as a work attributed to Testa.
However two important dealers, Hazlitt and and Mould, showed a keen interest in the painting and battled ferociously to buy it. The starting price was US $ 17,000 and Hazlitt managed to buy it at US $ 260,000.
Anthony Mould was convinced the work was by Poussin,
a great French master who settled in Rome during the 17th Century. The canvas was quite dirty and the risk was that it could have been a copy executed for the Duchess of Guyon, the daughter of Richelieu. After the sale, the canvas was carefully examined and despite the dirt experts managed to discern behing a hord of horsemen a gold chandelier, a menorah which made them believe that scene depicted in fact the pillaging of Jerusalem, a painting achieved by Poussin in 1626 for cardinal Francesco Barberini who exhibited it in his roman palace.
According to the inventory of cardinal Barberini's collection, it was discovered that the Sotheby's canvas was identical in dimension to the Poussin work and x rays showed traces of sketchings and changes in lines which discarded the work of
a copyist. Sir Denis Mahon, an expert on Poussin, believes this painting is by no doubt by the hand of the master, an opinion shared by another specialist, Pierre Rosenberg, head of the French museums.
Now the question is whether the heirs of Ernest Onians are not about to ask Sotheby's to pay them a compensation for having sold the painting 60 times under its real value.
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