New York ( CNN ) -- A 13th-century painting that was up for auction by Sotheby 's is now in the hands of the U.S. government after it was determined to have allegedly been stolen from a safe deposit box in Switzerland in 1986 , according to court documents . Sotheby 's listed `` Madonna and Child , '' an oil-on-panel painting , for sale in January and estimated the painting would bring between $ 600,000 and $ 800,000 , according to Sotheby 's spokesperson Dan Abernethy . Shortly after the listing , Sotheby 's performed its regular background check on the piece and discovered that it was in a database of stolen art , according to a Sotheby 's statement to CNN Wednesday . Sotheby 's says it `` immediately and voluntarily '' removed the painting from auction and has `` cooperated fully with the investigation . '' The painting is described as being on an engraved background , decorated with gold , dating from about 1285 to 1290 . Sotheby 's had described it as sharing `` an affinity with models by Duccio di Buoninsegna '' ( a painter of that time from the Tuscan city of Siena ) but concluded that it was more likely the work of a Florentine painter influenced by Cimabue ( a pioneer in the post-Byzantine style who was a contemporary of Duccio ) , according to documents cited in a forfeiture complaint filed this week in the Manhattan U.S. attorney 's office . The artwork is primarily referred to as the `` Duccio painting '' in the complaint . In 1977 , according to the complaint , the painting , which at the time was jointly owned by a man and a woman , was deposited in a safe deposit box in Geneva , Switzerland . The woman died in 1980 and her heirs designated another man to represent their interests in the painting . In 1986 , the two men moved the painting to a new safety deposit box in another bank branch , according to the complaint . Soon after , one of the co-owners gave a percentage of his ownership to two other men . Those two reported that the co-owner had again moved the artwork , but they did not know the whereabouts of the painting or the co-owner , according to the complaint . An Interpol investigation began in 1991 , but the painting was never found until it turned up listed on Sotheby 's for auction earlier this year , according to the complaint . Sotheby 's would not respond to CNN for comment on how the auction house obtained the artwork . Anyone who claims to have any rights to the painting must appear and show reasons to establish the claim , according to the federal complaint . CNN was unable to contact any parties who once had ownership . No charges have been filed in the alleged theft .
` ` Madonna and Child '' was listed for auction in January by Christie 's . Christie 's , after investigating the artwork , withdrew the listing . It was reported missing nearly 20 years ago , after a co - owner sold it . An official investigation began in 1991 , but it remained missing until this year .