Picasso painting may have been found after woman's deathbed revelation

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As Jenny Verrastro lay dying, she told Carl Sabatino to look under sewing machine in her Staten Island home
He found painting bought by his uncle for £10 ($15) in London during WWII
Painting is a recreation of Spanish artist's Woman With A Cape
Expert analysis of pigment suggests it is genuine

Published: 08:21 EST, 20 November 2015 | Updated: 20:20 EST, 20 November 2015

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A New Jersey woman's deathbed revelation to her nephew has led to the discovery of what might be a work by Pablo Picasso - with a price tag of $13million.

Carl Sabatino remembered seeing the picture of the 'lady in a fuzzy hat' on the wall of his aunt's home on Staten Island when he was a child.

During the Second World War, his uncle Nicky Verrastro had bought the artwork for £10 ($15) from a London street vendor while serving in the US military.

Carl Sabatino, from New Jersey, remembered seeing the picture of the 'lady in a fuzzy hat' on the wall of his aunt's home on Staten Island when he was a child. It had been bought in London for £10 ($15) by his uncle during the Second World War

After noticing Pablo Picasso's signature on it, Carl decided to investigate - and discovered it was a recreation of the Spanish artist's Woman With The Cape

Many years later, as Carl's aunt, Jenny Verrastro, lay dying in 2004, she told him to make sure he looked underneath her sewing machine.

After going to a secret crawlspace - where the family hid their treasures - he did as she directed and 'it just came flying out, literally in my lap. And I began to cry,' he told nbcnewyork.

Noticing it bore the signature Picasso, Carl started investigating - and found out it was a recreation of the Spanish painter's Woman With A Cape, which has been on display at the Cleveland Museum for almost 50 years.

Convinced he was on to something, he tried to get the pieced valued - whereupon one New York auction house simply dismissed it as a cheap poster.

Carl refused to give up and started analyzing Picasso's pre-war years in France.

Carl Sabatino (pictured) found the painting under a sewing machine - as directed by his dying aunt - and, if found to be genuine, it could be worth $13million

His breakthrough came when he discovered that the great artist had begun studying gum bichromate - a 19th century technique which combines photographic processes and pigment coloring.

A tiny pigment sample of his aunt's painting was analyzed by art expert Dr Kenneth Smith from the Center for Art Materials, Illinois, with very promising results.

The tests showed the artwork could indeed be placed in Europe in the 1930s, at the time Picasso was there.

Dr Smith spotted something else too, which, if true, would be a first for Picasso: part of a thumbprint.

The multi-million evaluation was made by Richard Beau Lieu, a world-renowned Picasso expert from Florida.

So while further analysis of his prized possession takes place in Washington, all Carl can do is wait.

And who knows? Maybe the piece could be worth even more than $13million.

After all, in May this year, Picasso's multi-hued painting Women Of Algiers (Version O) - aka Les Femmes d'Alger' - set a world record for artwork sold at auction, bringing in $179million.