VIENNA.- The forthcoming auction of Old Master Paintings at Dorotheum on 28 April 2026 includes a selection of works whose histories are as compelling as the images themselves.

A dramatic fragment of a Mary Magdalen by the celebrated female Baroque painter Artemesia Gentileschi is of particular interest. It is an autograph version of another painting of the same subject in Palazzo Pitti, Florence, and dates to Artemisia's early Florentine period of 1615-1618.

Few works of art reflect the visible weight of history as compellingly as this important picture. The painting is defined by a striking absence: the head and shoulders of the saint have been cut out of the canvas. The circumstances of the loss are unknown. It probably occurred during the violent upheavals in Berlin in the aftermath of World War II and the painting subsequently lay rolled up in a cellar before its quality was recognised, and it was restored. Despite the void, this painting retains the technical quality and psychological depth of Artemisia’s authorship.

Mark MacDonnell, Old Master expert at Dorotheum, emphasises the modernity of the painting: “The paradox between the power of the painting itself and the dramatic story of loss this enigmatic Magdalen carries with her evokes a visceral response almost as if this were a contemporary work of art. It is the embodiment of survival against the odds, reminiscent of the life story of the artist herself.”

The significance of the history of a painting is also demonstrated by Antiveduto Gramatica’s Hercules Taming the Cretan Bull. It was once part of the legendary collection of Cardinal Scipione Borghese where it is documented from the 1630s until the 18th century. The remains of the Borghese Collection, now housed in the Villa Borghese in Rome, are considered to be one of the most important collections of Italian art. Despite its illustrious provenance, the present work disappeared into obscurity and has only recently been rediscovered.

A more intimate history is found in Giuseppe Maria Crespi’s Saint Francesca Romana Placing the Infant Christ in the Arms of Her Confessor which was commissioned by an Olivetan abbot in Florence in 1735. This work on copper was originally one of a pair, and its companion piece is now in the J. Paul Getty Museum. This present work remained hidden for decades and was known to scholars only from photographs. It now re-emerges as the only known version of the subject by the artist.

A pair of biblical scenes, Abraham and the Three Angels and Lot and His Daughters, by Franz Sigrist tell a more recent story of loss and restitution. Once with the Munich art dealers Brüder Lion, who were forced to shut down their activities by the National Socialist authorities, the paintings were transferred in the 1930s to the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlung, where they remained until recently. The paintings have been restituted to the heirs of the Lion family, completing nearly a century-long journey.

Together, these works demonstrate that paintings are far more than aesthetic objects alone: they are witnesses to centuries of European history, each giving the viewer a glimpse into the past through their own story.