Rare Cuzco School Black Madonna painting to auction after 250 years

An exceptional painting from the Cuzco School, titled The Black Madonna and Child and created around 1700, is set to be auctioned for the first time after remaining with the same family for over 250 years. This unframed oil on canvas, measuring 32 x 22 inches, has an estimated value of £20,000 to £50,000 and will be sold by Sloane Street Auctions on July 10. The artwork has belonged to the Messina/Grisewood family since the 18th century. The Messina family, Sicilian nobles linked to the Palazzo Messina in Palermo, can trace their ancestry back to the Norman conquest of Sicily nearly 1,000 years ago. Following Count Giovanni Messina's execution in Catanzaro in 1800, the family sought refuge in Malta during the political turmoil of the time.