AN OXFORD College is reeling after being told that a painting which has hung in its hall of residence since 1930 could be a lost Michelangelo...worth £100million.

Expert Antonio Forcellino says of the Crucifixion scene: “No one but Michelangelo could have painted such a masterpiece.”

The artwork’s potential value is enhanced because Michelangelo, best known for the statue of David, produced very few paintings and those in existence are all in museums.

If the Oxford painting does turn out to be a Michelangelo it will join a long list of re-discovered antiquities. But don’t worry, there are plenty of other items out there, just waiting to be discovered. So, next time you’re in the attic, or helping clear out Granny’s flat, what should you be looking out for?

1. The Amber Room

Frequently described as the Eighth Wonder of the World this artwork was commissioned by Frederick I of Prussia in 1701 and was installed in the Catherine Palace near St Petersburg, until September 1941, when German troops looted it, taking the exquisite and very brittle amber panels to the city of Königsberg in East Prussia. When the Soviet Army re-captured the city no trace of the treasure could be found. Valued at £250 million in today’s money, the Amber Room is variously said to have been destroyed by Allied bombing, be hidden in a silver mine near Berlin, lying at the bottom of the Baltic in a sunk submarine, or buried under the dark waters of the lake at Neringa in Lithuania.

2. Blackbeard’s Treasure

No one disputes that the world’s top pirate amassed a fortune in gold and silver. But where did he bury it? His sunken ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, was located near Beaufort North Carolina in 1996, but the hoard was nowhere to be seen, although the anchor (right) has been recovered. Possible locations for the hidden stash include the Caribbean and Cayman Islands and Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay.

3. The Ark of the Covenant

Indiana Jones said it was a ‘radio for speaking to God’ and certainly the gold-clad artefact is still regarded as one of the most sacred objects of the Hebrew nation. It is said to contain the tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were written for Moses by God himself. But in 607 BC, after the sacking of King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, the Ark went missing. It’s believed to have been hidden in either Egypt or Ethiopia.

4. H6

A small name for a hugely important object, H6 is the lost maritime chronometer designed by navigation pioneer John Harrison. It had a starring role in the 1996 Only Fools and Horses episode when Del and Rodney discovered the timepiece in their lock-up and sold it for £6.2million. In real life, devotees are still searching.

5. The Treasures of Lima

In 1820 as Peru neared revolt, Lima’s $60million worth of treasures, including jewelled stones, candlesticks, and two life-size solid gold statues of Mary were removed for safety. Unfortunately the man removing them was a pirate who escaped to bury the treasure on the Cocos Islands. Despite 300 expeditions, the Treasure of Lima is yet to be found.