Workers reveal
Judith and Holofernes by Caravaggio. The work was discovered in an attic in Toulouse. Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images.
Aficionados of
Antiques Roadshow know that treasure sometimes hides in plain sight (if it isn’t a hoax or dud). And in operatic fashion, masterpieces often surface in prosaic domestic settings: attics, cellars, and garages.
It’s precisely the romantic, slovenly nature—ideally blocked by cobwebs—of these spaces that draws us to discoveries therein. There’s something about the rags-to-riches unlikeliness of it all, such as turning $721,765 in profit on a Chinese bowl purchased for $35 at a Connecticut yard sale.