TREASURE TROVE

You Can Have The Masterpiece: I'll Take That Parisian Flat

THE HEADLINES BLARE NEWS ABOUT A "MISSING MASTERPIECE," but it's a rare example of when the media misses the better story.

A painting by Italian Giovanni Boldini was found inside a dusty Parisian apartment that had gone unused for seven decades. The flat's owner, who died in June at the age of 91, had relocated to southern France before World War II and had never returned despite paying upkeep for the next 70 years.

When she died, auctioneers entered her flat which had become a time capsule of the past. The apartment had been the residence of actress Marthe de Florian, who is the beauty pictured in Boldini's painting. Seems Florian kept the company of many suiters in the apartment, and auctioneers also found "letters from her lovers in little packages wrapped up with ribbons of different colours."

The painting is lovely, but check out the photos inside this flat. Wow!

Oh, the Boldini was sold at auction for $2.9 million dollars.