I found £700k painting hidden behind a door after family dismissed it as a fake – could you have a hidden masterpiece?

AUCTIONEERS found a £700,000 masterpiece hanging on the back of a door in a family's home.

The rare artwork by 17th-century artist Pieter Brueghel The Younger spent years hidden away at a property in the north of France.

The "exceptional" painting of L'Avocat du village (The Village Lawyer) had been in the family since 1900 - but the dubious brood believed it was a fake.

They continued to pass it down from one generation to the next, but kept it tucked away from house guests and the art world.

The painting was eventually banished to the back of a door in their lounge and deemed "just a bit of decoration", until an expert caught a glimpse of it.

Malo de Lussac was visiting the home after the family requested an estimation visit from auctioneers Daguerre Val de Loire.

He was left stunned when he stumbled across the elusive painting covered in dust and concealed in the "television room."

The work - measuring 112cm high and 184cm wide, and valued at up to £713,000 – is believed to have been painted between 1615 and 1617.

It is one of Brueghel's largest-known pieces and features a theme he reproduced up to 90 times.

De Lussac said: "I started estimating this room and when I turned back, I saw this painting.

"It was a very good surprise for me. In the family, it was known as ‘the Brueghel’ but they had no idea it was a real one.

"They thought it was a copy; just a bit of decoration that wasn’t worth very much."

He said it only sunk in for the family when the auctioneers sent it to Germany for expert verification that confirmed it was an authentic Brueghel.

De Lussac continued: "They understood the importance of what they had, they asked us to take a photograph of them in front of the painting that they had lived with for all those years.

"It was both funny and touching."

The appraiser said he believes the artwork was bought as an authentic one, but that the family came to believe it was fake over several generations.

He added: "And that's what's incredible. We are giving them back this authenticity by saying 'in fact your artwork is real'.

"It is one of those unique finds that happens once in a career.

"It’s a very unusual painting in terms of size and the fact it is in exceptionally good condition.";

It was put up for auction in Paris on Monday, with experts expecting it to fetch between £527,561 to £703,414.

Pieter Brueghel the Younger, born in Brussels, was the oldest son of the 16th-century Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

After his father died when he was five, he and his younger brother, Jan Brueghel the Elder, followed in his footsteps to become an artist.

Brueghel often copied his father's works for his paintings, as well as favouring landscapes, religious subjects, village scenes and flowers.

The Village Lawyer depicts a disorderly scene as villagers queue up in the lawyers chambers while many clutch gifts including eggs and poultry.

He reproduced the painting nearly 100 times, with some signed and dated versions having been unearthed over the years.

An authentic version of the painting dating from around 1617 already hangs in the Louvre.

Despite his popularity, Breughel was probably quite poor and unable to reap the benefit from the prices his work attracts today.