Stolen Titian painting found at London bus stop put up for auction

Maroosha Muzaffar
Fri, 14 June 2024 

Tim Moore, general manager of Lord Bath’s Longleat Estate, with the recovered Titian painting, which is now being put up for auction (Sean Dempsey/PA)

A renowned painting by Renaissance master Titian called Rest on the Flight into Egypt is being auctioned by Christie’s in London next month and is expected to fetch as much £15-£25m.

Made in 1508, the two-foot-wide wooden panel depicting the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus and Joseph was purchased by the 4th Marquess of Bath in 1878.

Titian, born Tiziano Vecellio, created the artwork at the beginning of his career in the early 1500s when he was in his “late teens or barely 20 years old”.

The painting has a storied past. It was looted by Napoleon’s soldiers and stolen from Longleat, only to later be found at a London bus stop.

Christie’s describes it as a cherished piece sought after by nobility and with a rich, ongoing journey through history.

“This is a painting, then, that has been coveted by aristocrats, archdukes and emperors alike: prized for its vividly coloured scene of familial affection within the natural world,” the auction house said in the statement.

“Like its subjects, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt has been on a long and eventful journey — a journey that’s far from over.”

The artwork has been stolen twice. First in 1809 by Napoleon’s troops from Belvedere Palace in Vienna and then in 1995 from Longleat House, Wiltshire.

After a seven-year search, it was found in a plastic bag at a London bus stop by Charles Hill, former head of Scotland Yard’s art and antiques unit.

Hill, who died in 2021, found the painting following a tip-off in exchange for a £100,000 reward. He was also known for recovering Edvard Munch’s The Scream after it was stolen in 1994.