'Picasso' Found by Treasure Hunter in Basement Was Lost for Decades Because His Wife Thought It Was Too Ugly to Sell

A painting found by a junk dealer over 60 years ago has been identified by experts as a long-lost work by Pablo Picasso, potentially worth millions of dollars.

Luigi Lo Rosso discovered the Picasso painting in 1962 in the basement of a villa in Capri, Italy. When Rosso brought the artwork back, his wife made the case that it was too ugly to sell. In response, Rosso hung it in his home for nearly 50 years.

"My mother didn't want to keep it – she kept saying it was horrible," Lo Rosso's son Andrea said according to The Guardian.

When Andrea questioned the painting's authenticity following an art history project, the family became curious and sought out expert advice. Then, after years of investigating the piece, the painting was finally authenticated last month by Cinzia Altieri, a graphologist at the Arcadia Foundation.

The authentication established the painting's legitimacy and potentially increased its value to around €6 million ($6.6 million).

The painting is currently stored inside a secure vault in Milan. The Lo Rosso family hopes to one day present the piece to the Picasso Foundation for further authentication, which would increase its valuation.