The auctions that were trending this year 1:24
(CNN) --
An Anthony van Dyck painting, abandoned in a farm shed one day, has gone up for more than $3 million at auction.
The piece is a previous work (study) for a later painting by the Flemish master entitled "San Jerónimo".
The final painting is currently kept in the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.
The study, which depicts a nude elderly man seated on a stool, is unique for several reasons, according to the Sotheby's announcement.
It is one of only two large studies that Van Dyck conducted using live models.
It was probably painted between 1615 and 1618, according to Sotheby's, when Van Dyck was a young artist working alongside Peter Paul Rubens in Antwerp.
(Credit: courtesy of Sotheby's)
In addition, the oil has an unexpected provenance.
The study was recently identified as the work of Van Dyck, Sotheby's said in a statement shared with CNN.
The piece was discovered in the late 20th century in a farm shed in Kinderhook, New York.
"The person who found it, Albert B. Roberts, was a passionate collector of 'lost' pieces, describing his collection as 'an orphanage for lost art that had suffered from neglect,'" the auction house said.
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Roberts bought the abandoned painting for just $600, according to Sotheby's.
But shortly thereafter, art historian Susan J. Barnes published an article in which she recognized the piece as a "remarkably well preserved" work by Van Dyck.
The painting sold for $3.1 million on Thursday.
It was offered to Sotheby's by the Roberts estate.
A portion of the proceeds will go to the Albert B. Roberts Foundation Inc, which provides financial support to artists and other charities, according to the auction house.
The study was sold on Thursday as part of Sotheby's "Master Paintings Part I" auction, which also included works by Agnolo Bronzino, Titian and Melchior de Hondecoeter.