A painting that’s been in storage for many years is now being showcased by the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal.

It’s titled “Abraham Sacrificing Isaac,” and is considered a masterpiece by one of the most important artists of 17th century Rome, Valentin de Boulogne.

Lord Strathcona donated it to the Montreal museaum in 1925.  It wasn’t in very good condition, so it was  the 1960s before someone realized its value. 

Extensive restoration work revealed its original colours, and the painting is now on view in the Galleries of European Art in Montreal’s Museum of Fine Arts.

In 2016 and 2017, “Abraham Sacrificing Isaac” will  go on display in the Louvre, and in the Metropolitan Museaum of Art.