The distinctive frame is one of the features that helped identify the painting as the lost portrait of King Henry VIII. (Photo: Adam Busiakiewicz)

Busiakiewicz, however, was not interested in the smiling people in the photo, but rather in the wall in the photo, where he suspected that it was a lost portrait of the Tudor king Henry VIII. He caught a glimpse of the painting, which had a “distinct curved top,” on the wall. He was immediately reminded of a series of 22 portraits commissioned by a local politician and tapestry maker in the 1590s.

According to Busiakiewicz, Ralph Sheldon commissioned these paintings – mainly of kings, queens and “important contemporary international figures” – to hang in his home, Weston House in Warwickshire. The reason they have curved tops is because they were once incorporated into an architectural frieze in the Long Gallery in Weston.

The curved top is "a distinctive feature of Sheldon's collection", Busiakiewicz said, while the painting's frame is "identical to other surviving examples".

The painting also shows the king holding a sword and wearing a feathered hat – exactly as he appears in the Long Hall engraving made by archaeologist Henry Shaw in 1839.

According to Busiakiewicz, this series of portraits was later auctioned and most of them remain missing to this day.

After this was made public, Busiakiewicz visited Warwick's Shire Hall with local historian Aaron Manning to see the painting up close. "The portrait is huge and fits perfectly with Sheldon's other portraits," Busiakiewicz wrote.

Busiakiewicz revealed that this is not the first discovery he has made thanks to social media. In 2018, he came across a photo that a friend had taken at a wedding and posted on Instagram. The photo included a portrait that he identified as the work of 17th-century artist Joan Carlile.

A spokesman for Warwickshire County Council said it was definitely one of Ralph Sheldon's commissions. Since its discovery, the painting has been transferred to the Museum's Collections Centre for further investigation. They are now trying to establish its provenance. The council bought the painting in 1951 but there are still gaps in its records.

“Provenance is always a really tricky thing – sometimes it can be hard to figure out, especially when paintings are sold privately. But there is no doubt that this is a Ralph Sheldon painting of Henry VIII,” the spokesperson said.

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According to CNN