Maria Rivera, an employee at a Goodwill store in Virginia, unearthed a rare painting by 19th century Italian artist Giovanni Battista Torriglia (1858-1937) while on duty earlier this week. The painting reminded Rivera of a work she had seen in a museum, prompting her to put the piece aside.
The painting, which features an older, silver-haired woman holding a teacup and saucer, is signed “G.B. Torriglia” in the upper right-hand corner. Presented in a gold-colored wood frame, one appraiser valued the work at $12,000 to $18,000. A letter of authentication is also available for the painting.
The Torriglia painting joins a long list of treasures that have been uncovered at Goodwills across the country. In the past year, a sketch by Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was unearthed in Seattle and a 1,000 year-old piece of Native American pottery was found in New York, among other discoveries.
