A painting thought to be the work of a famed Renaissance artist has been uncovered beneath centuries of dirt on the wall of a cathedral in Vienna, Austria.
Found in St Stephen's Cathedral, the large wall painting was discovered on a wall that now sits above the cathedral's gift shop.
Experts said the painting, which depicts Saints Catherine and Margaret, is the work of German artist Albrecht Dürer.
Dürer worked as a theorist of the German Renaissance and also produced many prints.
The Nuremberg artist established his reputation across Europe when he was in his twenties, due to his high-quality woodcut prints.
According to Austria's Federal Monuments Office, the newly discovered paintings are thought to date back to the 16th Century, The Art Newspaper reported.
The painting was found in the 'bishop's gate' area of the cathedral and the Monuments Office said the 'artistic quality suggests a great master', after it announced the discovery last week.
In order to work out the origins of the piece, experts removed a 'centuries-old veil of dirt' from the paintings, it was then they discovered that it had been created by Dürer.
Dürer grew up in Nuremberg and the discovery of the painting could shed light on the life of the painter, as there is currently no historical records which state he had visited Vienna.
Erwin Pokorny, a Dürer specialist said: 'The question is not whether, but when Dürer was in Vienna,' he said, citing the mural's 'virtuoso brushwork.'
'In Joachim Sandrart's biography of Albrecht Dürer, Emperor Maximilian I orders the artist to 'mark something great on the wall',' art historian Michael Rainer told the BDA. 'We could now have found the location of this anecdote, which until now was misunderstood as mere legend.'
Once research from the mural has been conducted, a report will be published by the Monuments Office in the Austrian Journal for Art and Monument Conservation.
It was previously thought that Dürer had only made one set of wall paintings. These consisted of a decoration for the great hall of Nuremberg town hall which he had designed in 1521.
Despite the fact he designed the painting, the work was actually carried out by his assistants.
In 1630 it was painted over and all traces of his work were destroyed when a bombing hit in 1945.
Even though experts believe the works in Vienna are that of Dürer's, it is not yet clear if he just commissioned them, or if he actually painted them himself.
Pokorny had initially believed it was the work of one of his assistants, but after continuous research. now firmly believes that it is the work of Dürer himself.
It is thought that in 1505, Dürer had stopped of in Vienna, while on his way from Nuremberg to Venice.
One reason for his visit to Vienna, although there is no official documentation to prove this - could be to do with his friendship with scholar Conrad Celtis, who lived in the capital from 1497 until his death in 1508.
It is thought Celtis is shown in Dürer's 1508 painting of The Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand, which currently sits in the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
