Tapestry Spotted Inside NYC Rug Shop May Have Belonged To King Henry The VIII, Scholars Say
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A lost treasure of the English monarchy may have turned up at a rug gallery in New York City.
The missing artwork vanished in the 16th century some time after the death of King Henry the VIII.
Now, Scholars Roger Michel and Alexy Karenowska are on the trail of English history, as CBS News' Tony Dokoupil reported.
Dokoupil: "Is that King Henry's wine stain?"
Michel: "You've put your finger on it. Exactly right."
Inside the high-end yet hidden away New York City rug gallery, the scholars believe they may be looking at a treasure that once hung inside the king's palace.
"This tapestry could have been the witness to extraordinary history," Michel said.
King Henry the VIII commissioned 10 tapestries like it -- each depicting the life of Julius Caesar. They cost the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars.
Dokoupil: "So we're talking about the tapestry that helped bankrupt England?"
Michel: "We could be, yes!"
But none of the 10 tapestries have been seen in hundreds of years.
"I think it's absolutely clear what we have here is something really very significant," Karenowska said.
She and Michel said the tapestry is the right size, the right age and the right subject matter to match King Henry the VIII's.
They plan to test the work's authenticity as part of the Institute of Digital Archaeology, which is a group that uses technology to drill into the past.
"What we hope to do is get down into the weave and weft of this thing and essentially take its fingerprints," Michel said.
The scholars joined the case after getting an email from Mary Beard, who is a classic's professor at Cambridge University. She came across an image of the tapestry on the shop's website.
In the centuries following their disappearance, the tapestries were reproduced. Beard's view is the tapestry in New York City is one of those replicas.
If it does turn out to be King Henry the VIII's tapestry, Michel and Karenowska would like to see it returned to his palace in Hampton Court.
As for how it was lost, the scholars have a theory. They believe it was sent out for cleaning and just never picked up.