The Sack of Onians

The Destruction and Sack of the Temple of Jerusalem - Nicholas Poussin from Wikipedia

There’s a magnificent large painting (almost 1½ metres by 2 metres) in Jerusalem’s Israel Museum, with an interesting tale.

Ernest Onians, a farmer in England, made a small fortune, selling pig feed to swineherds. However, his passion in life wasn’t pigswill, but was collecting fine works of art. When he passed away, at the age of ninety, he had amassed a large collection of art. His heirs didn’t want the paintings he’d collected and decided to sell them. They asked Sotheby’s to auction the lot.

There was a lot of interest in one of the pieces – ‘The Sack of Carthage’, by Pietro Testa. The distinguished British art historian, Sir Denis Mahon, told his gallery to buy this work, whatever the cost. When other dealers saw that Sir Denis’ gallery was showing such interest, they sat up and took notice. The bidding was fierce, and the painting was sold for more than ten times its estimated value. Sir Denis hadn’t bought a pig in a poke, far from it. He had spotted a menorah in the scene, which told him that it wasn’t a Testa, it was a Poussin instead – ‘The Destruction and Sack of the Temple of Jerusalem’. Nicholas Poussin, the French Baroque painter, had painted it, while yet a spring chicken – probably after seeing the depiction of Temple artifacts including the menorah on Titus’ Arch in Rome.  The price that was paid, was a bargain indeed. After Sir Denis had restored the painting, he consulted experts at the Louvre who verified that it was Poussin’s work. Then it was subsequently sold, for what it was really worth, in excess of £4million. The painting was donated to the Israel Museum by the purchasers, Sir Jacob Rothschild and the Rothschild Foundation. The family of Onians, wasn’t so pleased, to say the least - they thought that the auctioneers had made a pig’s ear of the sale - and sued Sotheby’s for the money they’d lost. From this little story there’s an important lesson to learn, it really does pay, to know one’s onions. 

Detail from The Destruction and Sack of the Temple of Jerusalem - Nicholas Poussin from Wikipedia

Titus' Arch in Rome - Julian Alper