[deks]

He bought it in an antique shop in Cheshire, England. After he took it to Antiques Roadshow, they suggested that he have it restored, which involved cleaning and removal of layers of paint that had been added over time. Then it was authenticated.

The pictures and a nice video with the details at the link. . .

Daily Mail Online article

Full Title:

Fiona Bruce's £400,000 hunch: Antiques Roadshow star spots that £400 painting is really a Van Dyck worth a thousand times as much

[afraidfortherepublic]

Marvelous! I would have bought it too, just because it is so well done — even under layers of dirt.

[sphinx]

This happened at a local antique store here on Capitol Hill a few years back. Someone bought an old painting back in the dusty aisles for a few hundred dollars. It turned out to be by a collected artist and worth, IIRC, about $35,000.

[TexasRepublic]

The first clue was Van Dyck’s name displayed on the frame!