For 70 years, no one has seen it publicly. The exceptional painting may be worth up to £5 million

A painting by Albrecht Altdorfer, created around 1520, will be auctioned at Sotheby's on December 9, with an estimated value of £3-5 million. This work, one of the earliest examples of landscape painting in Western art, has not been publicly displayed for 70 years, having been in a private Swiss collection. Previously, it belonged to the aristocratic Harrach family in Vienna. Sotheby's expert George Gordon describes its emergence as one of the most exciting discoveries in the field. The painting depicts a densely wooded landscape without human figures, featuring a cloudy sky and a rainbow. Altdorfer is recognized as a key figure in Renaissance art, and this auction marks the first opportunity to acquire one of his works since 1980.