Titian painting stolen from Longleat House and then found in carrier bag sells for £17.5m at auction

A painting once stolen from Longleat House in Wiltshire and found in a carrier bag at a bus stop seven years later has sold for more than £17 million.

Titian's 'Rest On The Flight Into Egypt' was stolen in 1995 before being reunited with its owner Lord Bath in 2022.

It fetched just under the estimated price of £25 million at an auction in London on Tuesday 2 July.

The 16th century artwork, 'Rest On The Flight Into Egypt' by Venetian painter Titian, shows Mary cradling Jesus.

In 1995, it was stolen from the first-floor drawing room of Longleat House, before being found seven years later after a £100,000 reward was offered for information.

Former Scotland Yard detective chief inspector Charles Hill discovered the painting in a plastic carrier bag, without the frame, in London in 2002.

'Rest On The Flight Into Egypt' was estimated to be worth between £6 million to £7 million two decades ago.

The painting, offered by Lord Bath and the Longleat Trustees, was auctioned with an estimated value of between £15 million and £25 million.

The picture, also shows Joseph looking at the mother and son. It is 2ft wide and painted on a wooden panel.

It has had many owners over the years, including Austrian emperor Joseph II, before being hung at the Belvedere Palace in Vienna.

French troops looted the painting in 1809 for the Napoleon Museum, which was assembled by the Bonaparte family.

London auction house Christie’s, which put the painting up for auction, said the painting was then owned by Scottish landowner Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro before being bought in 1878 by the 4th Marquess of Bath at a Christie’s auction.