Italian collector offers reward for priceless Chinese painting lost on train  

意收藏家坐火車丟中國元代古畫 價值769萬元

(ECNS) -- Italian art collector Francesco Plateroti is offering a reward to the person who finds a 13th century Chinese artwork lost on a high-speed train from Paris to Geneva.

The piece, called The Banquet of Immortals on the Terrace of Jade, was painted by Chinese artist Wang Zhenpeng during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and is worth 7.69 million yuan ($1.25 million).

Plateroti only realized the landscape, previously shown in Paris, was missing from his briefcase after alighting in the French town of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine.

He said the expensive piece cannot be sold without the cultural certificate of authenticity he holds, following suspicious phone calls related to the possible whereabouts of the artwork.

"You have to be optimistic… I wish in the near future I could see the return of the painting," he declared.