Michelangelo Escapes from Behind the Couch in Buffalo

Listen up, stoop sale perusers and junk junkies: a painting that had been stashed behind a couch in Buffalo might be the work of Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo. The painting, referred to as "the Mike" by the painting's owner, Martin Kober, and his family, has been deemed a Michelangelo by art expert Antonio Forcinelli, who says that Kober's painting of a collapsed Jesus and a pleading Mary is the real thing.

But William Wallace, a professor of Art History at Washington University in St. Louis and author of "Michelangelo: the Artist, the Man and his Times," is not entirey convinced—yet. Wallace saw "the Mike" in 2005 but wants to reserve judgment about its legitimacy until he sees it completely restored and cleaned. The painting appears to be a large version of a Michelangelo drawing which is on display at the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum in Massachusetts.

"We have a number of versions of this design by Michelangelo," Wallace says. "In the Renaissance, it is the invention or the design that matters, and who actually painted the picture itself is not as important as who designed it."

Semantics and brush strokes aside, Wallace says the work is a rare historical artifact, particularly because Kober has documented the painting's ownership dating back to the Renaissance. "That in and of itself speaks volumes for the value of this object and links it back to Michelangelo's circle very, very closely."

Perhaps the good news for the people picking through stoop sales or perusing items left on the street is that there might be hope (though an advanced degree in Art History might help). In 1996, Dr. James Draper was reported to have identified a Michelangelo statue from the Fifth Avenue bus, and Wallace says from 1900 through 1996, there were at least two Michelangelo pieces found each year.

With the discovery of a $300 million painting hanging in the balance, it might be prudent to check behind your couch.