Could The Painting That Hung Above His Fireplace For Years Be An Authentic Michelangelo?

For the past five years, the art world has been buzzing about a potential 16th century lost Michelangelo painting that one New York man claims to own. Martin Kober, a retired Airman, says a painting that’s been in his family for years is an authentic Michelangelo, and he has some compelling proof to back it up. According to research by Italian art historian Antonio Forcellino, Michelangelo created the painting around 1545 for a friend. It then made it’s way to a German baroness, who left it to Kober’s great-grandfather’s sister-in-law. After arriving in America in 1883, the painting was on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1880s, and eventually made it’s way to Kober’s intermediate family (you can find more about the painting’s history here). While American art experts have dismissed the claim, if it is indeed a Michelangelo, it could be worth up to $300 million!