Family's TV Room Joke Turns into $850,000 Bruegel Masterpiece
A painting believed to be a fake and used as a family joke in a French home was discovered to be a genuine work by 17th-century Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Younger. The painting, depicting Flemish peasants presenting their wares to a Spanish tax collector, was one of the largest attributed to the artist and sold at auction in Paris for $845,000. Its owners, who had inherited the painting, were convinced it was a copy and asked auctioneers to take their photo in front of it before its sale.