Lost Caravaggio painting found in attic after burglars left it behind could be worth over £100m

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A lost Caravaggio painting thought “inadequate” and worthless by burglars who left it behind in an attic is expected to fetch well over £100m at auction this summer. The painting turned up five years ago after spending the past century in the dusty corner of a farmhouse attic in the French city of Toulouse. Thieves who broke into attic only a few years before it was discovered took bottles of perfume and several other items, but left the Caravaggio behind because they thought it “inadequate” and worthless, said auctioneer Marc Labarbe who believes the biblically themed work could sell for up to £129m when it goes under the hammer in June. open image in gallery Auctioneer Marc Labarbe explains how ‘Judith and Holofernes’ was found in a Toulouse attic The work depicts the biblical tale of Judith, a widow from the city of Bethulia, who breaks the siege of her home by seducing the Assyrian leader and beheading him.