Picasso painting found in basement turns £5 million treasure

In 1962, Luigi Lo Rosso was searching the basement of a house on the Italian island of Capri. He often checked such abandoned places and sold what he found there for a small price. This time, he came across a rolled-up painting he took home to Pompeii, framed in a cheap frame and hung on the living room wall. He irritated his wife by doing so, as she considered the work particularly ugly.

The painting hung in the same place for many years until Lo Rosso's son, Andrea, received an art encyclopedia from his aunt. As he browsed through the volume, he noticed that the controversial living room decoration resembled paintings by Pablo Picasso. Even the signature matched. The family contacted experts. After months of research, graphologist Dr Cinzia Altieri, a member of the Scientific Committee of the Arcadia Foundation, confirmed that the signature indeed belongs to Pablo Picasso.

Dr Altieri stated that there are no doubts about the originality of the iconic Spanish painter's signature, so the painting is a work by Picasso. The piece, likely painted from 1930-1936, was valued at about £5 million (approximately 18 million USD). Luigi Lo Rosso died before the painting was authenticated, but his son continued the mission.

60-year-old Andrea Lo Rosso revealed that his father didn't know who Picasso was until the art encyclopedia entered the house. He recalled the family's history with the painting: "Supposedly, in my growing up, I always had negative thoughts about the beauty of this picture. I looked at it, I touched it, I thought what story it could have had before my Grandpa found it."

The painting is currently kept in a vault in Milan, while the Lo Rosso family is in contact with the Picasso Foundation in Malaga, Spain, which will have the final say regarding its authenticity. The piece probably depicts the French photographer and painter Dora Maar, who was Picasso's lover until 1945.