Rubens Could Bring $35M

A Peter Paul Rubens painting thought to have been lost for more than 200 years will go on auction in New York in January, along with nine other Baroque-era artworks, and could bring as much as $35 million. Sotheby's, which is handling the sale, said the 1609 "Salome Presented with the head of Saint John the Baptist"—the wording varies a bit—was misattributed after being added to a private French collection in 1768, CNN reports. It resurfaced in the 1980s and was sold for $5.5 million in 1998, a fraction of what the auction house expects the winning bid to be this time.

The Flemish painter's work should become one of the highest-value old masterworks ever sold, per the Guardian. The group of paintings together could bring $60 million. Ruben's painting "fearlessly explores the violent and sexual dynamics of the Biblical narrative like some pre-cinematic Martin Scorsese," said Keith Christiansen, curator emeritus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. "It's the kind of painting that, once seen, you won't forget."