NY Man Believes His Family Owns A $300M Michelangelo Painting
- 7 years ago
Martin Kober from upstate New York believes that his family owns a Michelangelo painting valued at around $300 million.
Martin Kober from upstate New York believes that his family owns a Michelangelo painting valued at around $300 million.
However, for the past 15 years, the retired pilot has been frustrated by art experts’ lack of consensus about the work’s authenticity, telling the Associated Press, “It’s tormenting now. I’m nobody, I’m not connected. I don’t know if that’s it.”
The 25-inch by 19-inch painting of Mary and Jesus, which the Kobers have dubbed “The Mike,” had been a decorative piece in the family’s home until an errant tennis ball struck it, and it was stored behind a couch for years.
Kober began researching the work in 2003, and, according to a 2011 New York Times report, “[has] amassed an extensive body of documents related to the painting, hired forensic specialists, built an impressive Renaissance art library, hectored and cajoled dozens of curators and experts and tracked the painting almost town by town through Italy and Croatia.”
His efforts have resulted in the support of Italian art expert Antonio Forcellino who has said about the painting, “I had assumed it was going to be a copy. In reality this painting was even more beautiful than the versions hanging in Rome and Florence. The truth was this painting was much better than the ones they had.”
Forcellino has corroborated his position with written documents showing that the Renaissance artist had painted such a work as well as an explanation of how the piece may have made it to the Kober family--through a European archbishop and eventually, a German baroness.
However, other art experts have dismissed the painting as a copy, with some pointing out issues with the figures’ anatomy and proportions, notes the New York Times.
In the meantime, the Kober family is keeping the suspected 16th century piece stored in a secure, out-of-state location until a final judgment can be reached.
Martin Kober from upstate New York believes that his family owns a Michelangelo painting valued at around $300 million.
However, for the past 15 years, the retired pilot has been frustrated by art experts’ lack of consensus about the work’s authenticity, telling the Associated Press, “It’s tormenting now. I’m nobody, I’m not connected. I don’t know if that’s it.”
The 25-inch by 19-inch painting of Mary and Jesus, which the Kobers have dubbed “The Mike,” had been a decorative piece in the family’s home until an errant tennis ball struck it, and it was stored behind a couch for years.
Kober began researching the work in 2003, and, according to a 2011 New York Times report, “[has] amassed an extensive body of documents related to the painting, hired forensic specialists, built an impressive Renaissance art library, hectored and cajoled dozens of curators and experts and tracked the painting almost town by town through Italy and Croatia.”
His efforts have resulted in the support of Italian art expert Antonio Forcellino who has said about the painting, “I had assumed it was going to be a copy. In reality this painting was even more beautiful than the versions hanging in Rome and Florence. The truth was this painting was much better than the ones they had.”
Forcellino has corroborated his position with written documents showing that the Renaissance artist had painted such a work as well as an explanation of how the piece may have made it to the Kober family--through a European archbishop and eventually, a German baroness.
However, other art experts have dismissed the painting as a copy, with some pointing out issues with the figures’ anatomy and proportions, notes the New York Times.
In the meantime, the Kober family is keeping the suspected 16th century piece stored in a secure, out-of-state location until a final judgment can be reached.