Spain's Prado Museum confirms rediscovery of lost Caravaggio. Painting will be unveiled May 27

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Prado Museum on Monday confirmed that a painting that was due to be auctioned in Madrid in 2021 is in fact a work by Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio that was considered lost. It will be unveiled to the public for the first time in the museum later this month.

The Prado said in a statement on Monday the work titled “Ecce Homo” (Latin for Behold The Man) will go on display from May 27 until October as a special one-piece exhibition following an agreement with its new owner, who has not been identified.

“Since its reappearance at an auction three years ago, Ecce Homo has represented one of the greatest discoveries in the history of art,” the museum said.

“Painted by the great Italian artist around 1605-09 and believed to have once been part of the private collection of Phillip IV of Spain, the painting is one of around only 60 known works by Caravaggio in existence, and thus one of the most valuable old master artworks in the world,” the Prado added.