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An oil painting covered in bird droppings found in an upstate New York shed is a rare piece of art expected to fetch up to $3 million in a Sotheby’s sale next week.
The painting, which depicts a bearded, older man sitting nude on a stool, has been identified as a live study by the famed 17th-century Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck, the auction house said.
The sketch, which is believed to date back to between 1615 and 1618, was a study for Van Dyck’s painting, “Saint Jerome with an Angel.”
The part-time art collector Albert B. Roberts, who recognized the importance of the painting, found it in a farm shed in Kinderhook, New York, in the late 20th century.
