Three Spanish siblings had the surprise of their lives when they entered a painting that had hung in their family home for more than fifty years for an auction. The oil painting which they inherited from their father was thought to be a knock-off version made by a student of the 17th-century Italian painter, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, but when it was referred to a professor at the Bologna Fine Arts Academy for evaluation, it turned out it was actually the work of the master painter himself.

The small painting of the scourged Jesus at the Crowning with Thorns event before his crucifixion, believed to have been the work of the 17th century Spanish artist José de Ribera, who was the son of a shoemaker and a notable follower of Caravaggio, had been due to go into auction in Madrid on April 1 with a guide price of €1,500 (£1,300).

However, on closer inspection by Bologna Fine Arts Academy professor, Massimo Pulini, who received an email request to evaluate the art piece from an antiques dealer and friend who was suspicious of the painting's origin.

The evaluation by Pulini confirmed that the painting which would have been sold for a little over a paltry thousand euro is actually worth millions as it's a true Caravaggio.

When I saw the painting I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Pulini says. “The impact was so immediate that I instantly knew this was a Caravaggio. It was like meeting someone on the street who you haven’t seen for a long time. It’s difficult to explain what happens in certain moments when, in a millisecond, you have such an impression. It’s often a question of instinct.”

Word of this confirmation soon spread and cumulating in the Spanish culture ministry, acting on advice from Madrid’s Prado museum, imposing an export ban, and thus, the painting was pulled from auction.

"Given the speed at which all this has been happening, we now need a thorough technical and scientific study of the painting in question,” said a source at the ministry. “There needs to be an academic debate about whether the Caravaggio attribution is plausible and accepted by the scientific community.”

Experts in Italy are however convinced that the painting is an original Caravaggio and are mounting pressure for the painting to be brought to Italy.

One of such art critics is the Italian MP Vittorio Sgarbi who said  he had recognized the painting as a Caravaggio last month after an artist friend and art history professor showed him a picture.

“I see it and immediately realise that the work is by Caravaggio and think that with the help of funding I can get it back to Italy,” Sgarbi told Italian media. “Its price could be around €100m-€150m if you sell it privately, and €50m if you sell it to a museum such as Prado.”

Speaking about why she's convinced the painting is a Caravaggio, Maria Cristina Terzaghi, an art history professor at the University of Rome and an expert on Caravaggio, said, "the composition of the red in the purple mantle that covers Christ is the same as the picture of Salome with the head of John the Baptist in the royal palace in Madrid.”

Meanwhile, the three siblings who had been oblivious to the possibility of their heirloom being an original Caravaggio became suspicious when they started receiving secret offers from desperate buyers. In a meeting with a potential buyer who offered to buy the painting for €500,000, the siblings disclosed that they had already received two separate offers of €3 million. 

To buttress his claim that the painting was done by Caravaggio, Pulini, in a 16-page essay identified the work as The Crowning with Thorns, painted by Caravaggio to enter a competition arranged by the aristocrat Massimo Massimi in 1605. The essay contained specific details that confirmed the painting was the work of Caravaggio, such as the inclination of Christ’s face, the light, the soldier’s face, which resembles that of the Young Sick Bacchus (Bacchino malato), one of Caravaggio's most celebrated works.

Several theories abound on how the painting got to Spain and faded away into obscurity, but as Spanish and Italian powerhouses race to solve yet another jaw-dropping mystery in art history, delve into the emerging market of contemporary African art on offer at Aworanka and explore the intricacies and Who knows? A mystery might be lurking among the art pieces that will be the next wonder thrill of the art world.