‘Lost Painting’ by Raphael Surfaces in English Castle

A “lost painting” by the 16th-Century master Raphael reportedly worth at least $36 million has been found hanging on the wall at an English castle.

Newspapers on Saturday called the discovery of the work, the “Madonna Dei Garofani,” the art find of the century.

The small work, which shows a Virgin Mary and child toying with pink carnations, was found during a routine visit to the Duke of Northumberland’s collection at Alnwick Castle in northeast England by experts of the National Gallery in London.

“The National Gallery is confident that it is a Raphael,” the gallery’s curator for High Renaissance art, Nicholas Penny, said.

It said infrared light testing had revealed Raphael as the artist.

The painting, executed on a fruitwood panel, was long thought to be a copy of a lost original and had previously been believed to be worth about $180,000.

Sotheby’s auction house valued the work at between $36 million and $54 million.

“It’s in a horrible 19th-Century frame and was under dirty glass. It is wonderful, sublime and in perfect condition,” Julien Stock, a Sotheby’s expert, said.