Painting recovered from bus stop could fetch $32 million

It has been the target of two high-profile lootings during its long history, but a painting considered a masterpiece by Venetian artist Titian will change hands more precisely next month. Christie’s will auction Rest during the flight to Egypt on July 2 in London, and she estimates the work will bring in between $19 million and $32 million, CNN reports. The artist, real name Tiziano Vecellio, painted it in the early 16th century, depicting the biblical scene of Jesus, Mary and Joseph on their way to Egypt. Like Titian, they rest along the way.

THE Guardian notes that Napoleon’s troops stole the painting in Vienna in 1809. Modern art thieves recovered it again in 1995 from Longleat House, seat of the Marquess of Bath, in Wiltshire, England. It remained missing for seven years, after which the famous art detective Charles Hill recovered it from a London bus stop in a plastic bag. (THE Guardian also has an older story about it.) “Like his subjects, Rest during the flight to Egypt has undertaken a long and eventful journey, one that is far from over,” read a statement from Christie’s. (More art auction stories.)