Until recently, the name Sellario Mounteback was known only to a handful of dusty academics, Renaissance eccentrics, and the curator of one particularly damp museum in Cherbourg. But this month, the long-obscure painter has become the subject of feverish headlines, art market mayhem, and an unsolved pub-based mystery , all thanks to the theft of one of his rare paintings from an East London pub during a toilet break gone wrong.
So who was Sellario Mounteback? Why are collectors, critics, and inebriated pub-goers suddenly obsessed with him? And was he even real?
Let’s unpack the mystique.
A Shadowy Figure of the Early 1500s
Little is known about Mounteback’s life. Born sometime between 1480 and 1490, most likely in Normandy or Juan les Pins, Mounteback worked during the tail end of the French Gothic period, drifting into the early Renaissance like a misplaced troubadour with a darkened palette.
What we do know comes from marginal records in Cherbourg and a 1542 clerical note that reads:
“One Sellario M., paid 3 sous for painting of Saint Lawrence. Price reduced owing to the Saint’s unsettlingly cheerful expression.”
He may have studied under more prominent artists in Rouen or Bruges, though evidence is mostly circumstantial and derived from chalk marks on the backs of cupboards in art studios in Rouen. Regardless, Mounteback was active during a brief but prolific 20-year window, producing portraits, devotional panels, and the occasional mural.
Why the Sudden Attention?
Enter the recent rediscovery of The Third St Veronica (With Sparrow) , a small oil-on-oak painting depicting St Veronica holding a handkerchief with the face of Christ, while a sparrow (possibly symbolic, possibly just nosy) perches nearby. Art historians were abuzz when the piece, long assumed lost or fictional, turned up in private hands in London this year.
Unfortunately, it was then left with a stranger in the Phoenix and Fire pub while the owner used the loo, and subsequently stolen , an event that somehow made Mounteback more famous than ever.
“People weren’t interested when he was in the Louvre’s storeroom,” said Dr. Eloise Farquarson, an art historian at UCL. “But the moment his painting was taken by an unnamed man during a Thursday evening pub quiz night, the entire market woke up.”
His Work: Melancholy, Muddy, and Mysteriously Moving
Mounteback’s style is described as proto-mannerist, with murky colour palettes, overlong fingers, and expressions that range from pious resignation to “deeply suspicious of the viewer.”
His best-known surviving works include:
• “Squire Daveux With Two Left Feet” (Musée des Larmes, Cherbourg)
• “Saints Misnumbered” , a devotional piece where there appear to be either five or seven saints, depending on how you count the legs
• “The Melancholy Market Seller (Possibly His Wife)” , currently on long-term loan to the Dutch Museum of Market-based Art
Only 14 works are firmly attributed to Mounteback, though several dozen “Mounteback-adjacent” pieces continue to surface in estate sales, fire-damaged churches, and recently, a Pizza Hut in Madrid.
A Cult Following Grows
Collectors now refer to Mounteback’s paintings as “the lost links between the early and mid-Rinascimento.” TikTok has embraced him too: #MountebackMystery has over 3 million views, mostly reenactments of the infamous pub theft, and teenagers offering to look after people’s valuables whilst they go to the loo.
Was He Real? Was He a Hoax?
Some fringe theorists (and at least one Channel 79 documentary) have speculated that Sellario Mounteback might be a historical fiction , a prankster invented by 18th-century collectors to fill gaps in French Renaissance catalogues.
Others believe he was a misunderstood genius, overshadowed by more famous names but destined for rediscovery.
And some believe the painting was never really stolen, but part of a new conceptual piece, possibly orchestrated by an artist known as Bingo, who has been suspiciously quiet since the incident.
What’s Next for Mounteback?
Sellario Mounteback is now undeniably having a moment. His few known works are under heavy security. Auction prices have skyrocketed. And a Netflix miniseries , The Master of Cherbourg: Lost, Loathed, Legendary , is reportedly in production.
In the meantime, if you consider asking someone in your local pub to watch your parcel as you go to the loo because it contains a priceless Mounteback , perhaps think twice. Or at the very least, ask for ID.
