Deathbed Confessions
Deathbed confessions can be confusing. In some cases, a person says something on their deathbed that makes perfect sense. It is the last thing that a person wants a loved one to know. In other cases, the deathbed confession can make no sense at all. When a person is dying, they are often on medication and not entirely lucid. When a man named Carl Sabatino was standing by his dying aunt’s side, she told him something that shocked him. He wasn’t even sure if it was true.
The Sewing Machine
Carol was standing by his Aunt Jenny’s side in 2004. She had suffered a long illness, and her doctors told Carl that she didn’t have much time left. Before she passed away, Jenny told Carl to look under her sewing machine. She told him that there was treasure under it that she had been saving for him for years. Carl didn’t know what to think. He wasn’t sure if his aunt knew what she was talking about. He certainly didn’t know anything about a treasure. He decided to take a look to see if what his aunt said was true.
The Treasure
Carl went over to his aunt’s sewing machine. He remembered seeing her sitting at it for hours making clothing, drapes, and table cloths. Seeing the sewing machine in his aunt’s Staten Island home brought back plenty of memories. When he moved the sewing machine, the treasure slid right into his lap. It was wrapped in newspaper, and when he opened it, he discovered it was a painting.
Woman With a Cape
When Carl opened up the newspaper, he saw that the treasure was a recreation of Pablo Picasso’s painting, Woman With a Cape. Carl, who was working as a New Jersey broadcast executive, believed that the recreation was actually done by Picasso decades after he painted the original. This wasn’t the first time he had seen the painting. When he was a child, he and his brother saw the painting hanging in his aunt’s house. They called it “the lady with the fuzzy hat.”
How Did Jenny Get This Painting?
Carl believes that his uncle, Nicky Verrastro, bought the painting from a street vendor in London. He believes that his uncle purchased the painting while he was fighting in World War II. At this time, many areas were either bombed or looted, and many items that were found were sold on the street. Carl remembers hearing his uncle talking about buying the painting. He believed that Nicky paid between $10 and $30 for the painting, which was a reasonable price for street goods back then.
Authentication
Carl wanted to know if Picasso really did the painting, or if it was just a duplicate poster. He decided to take the painting to an expert from Christie’s in New York. The expert that he spoke to looked at the painting for about 30 seconds and told Carl that it was a poster that was worth no more than $10. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to here. He wanted to know how she came to this decision so quickly. She told him that it was the color that made her believe that Picasso didn’t paint the picture. She said that the paint used was an exotic rarity for those times. She said that there was no way that he created the painting using these colors. Carl didn’t believe her, and he decided to find another expert to get a second opinion.
Dr. Kenneth Smith
Carl didn’t believe that the “treasure” that his Aunt Jenny brought him was a knockoff. He took the painting to the Center for Art Materials Analysis in Westmont, Illinois. There, he met Dr. Kenneth Smith. Dr. Smith did more than look at the painting and wrote it off. Instead, he decided to extract some of the paint and test it. The tests confirmed that the paint used was popular in Europe in 1930. This gave Carl hope that Picasso did the painting.
A Partial Thumbprint
Dr. Smith did some further testing, and he found a right particle thumbprint. He matched it with a plaster cast of Picasso’s hand. This was actual proof that Picasso had in fact painted the picture. Carl couldn’t believe it. He could have believed the first “expert” and tucked the painting away in his closet. He was thrilled that he never did.
The Appraisal
When Carl found out that the painting was done by Picasso, he decided to have it appraised. He took it to an art appraiser in Florida named Richard Beau Lie. He was told that it was worth around $13 million. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This painting was going to make him a millionaire.
A True Treasure
Carl was incredibly thankful for his Uncle Nicky and Aunt Jenny for the amazing gift that they had given him. They changed his life and turned his financial future around. He was thrilled that his aunt’s treasure turned out to be a treasure. On Her Deathbed, His Aunt Whispered Check Under The Sewing Machine – Finds $3 Million Dollar Treasure.
