‘Stolen’ artwork handed back by man who had found it on Spanish street

The mystery of a small and very valuable picture by the Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla that vanished over the weekend has been solved after a man told police he had mistaken the painting for junk when he found it on a Seville street and had rescued it.

- Sam Jones Madrid

Rather than being entranced by the painting’s subject matter - two boats off a beach - Andrés Hurtado was instead captivated by its handsome gold frame.

What Hurtado, 57, did not know when he happened across the work last Saturday was that it was a painting by Sorolla, a late 19th- and early 20th-century Spanish artist renowned for his mastery of light and his beach scenes.

Nor did he know that the painting belonged to a Seville family who have owned it for many years and who were in the habit of taking it on holiday with them. They had intended to pack the picture into the boot of their car as they headed to the beach but had accidentally left it leaning against a wall and driven off.