The National Gallery has discovered a 16th-century masterpiece it did not know it had. A painting that it long ago dismissed as a copy, relegating it to its basement, will be brought upstairs to the main galleries after being attributed to Veronese, the great Venetian master.

The Rape of Europa is being seen in a new light following an extensive clean and in depth research by the new director of the National Gallery, Nicholas Penny. Dr Penny, who took up the post last month said: “It was neglected. It struck me as worth looking at again.”

The Rape of Europa had been dismissed as a copy since 1913, when it was relegated to the Gallery’s sixpenny “Illustrated Catalogue”, attributed to the “School of Veronese”.

Dr Penny had been particularly intrigued by the work as it had been in the collections of Emperor Rudolf II and Queen Christina of Sweden who were both noted for their significant holdings of Venetian art.

Penny’s research into the painting began with a scholarly book he began writing 15 years ago as the National Gallery’s Clore Curator of Renaissance Painting.

In the book, The Sixteenth-Century Italian Paintings, Volume 2: Venice 1540-1600, he writes: “After cleaning, the painting’s technique and palette were revealed as characteristic of Veronese, and the pentimenti and handling were found to be typical of the original work.

“A slight gaucheness in the composition, as exemplified by the awkward placement of the two cows, can be paralleled in other works by Veronese.”

Perry was a senior curator of sculpture at the National Gallery of Art in Washington from 2002 until 2007. His American experience inspired a realisation in him that the National Gallery must become more proactive in courting collectors of Old Masters, who may loan and eventually bequeath important works to the institution.

“That’s not really been part of the National Gallery’s history,” he said. “There’s no reason why not. London is a centre of the art market and many major collectors have residencies here.”

He added that the gallery can play a role in inspiring young collectors to collect Old Masters and that history of art courses in universities have for too long placed too much emphasis on contemporary art.

That balance needs to be altered, he said: “I would like it to be strange for people just to be interested in contemporary art. People who were collectors of modern art in the early 20th century were never inclined to ignore what could be found in the National Gallery.”

The gallery also needs to be more proactive in seeking out paintings from European collections, he observed. Too often, he feels, it has simply waited for paintings “to pop up down the road” in the salerooms.

He believes that the gallery should recreate its role as an acquiring institution, just as it had been until the late 19th century. “We have got to be thinking of buying the types of paintings we don’t have,” he said. There are significant gaps in the gallery’s existing collection of nineteenth-century art from Italy and Germany revealed Perry: “Our 19th-century holdings are predominantly French.”

Susan Foister, director of collections at the National Gallery, said: “It was in the basement until Nicholas gave it his attention. Everyone who has seen it has been convinced by it. It’s great to find something like this in your basement.”

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