French artist Jean Charles Blais had a surprise when he discovered an ancient engraved stone beneath the plaster of his studio wall during repairs for a water leak. Located on the French Riviera, Blais’s studio is located inside a historic chapel on his property in the commune of Vence, once the ancient Roman colony of Vinitium.

Photo: Katherine McMahon, Courtesy of Opera Gallery

The stone is inscribed with the Latin phrase “CONIVGI ET VALERIAE APRONIAE”. It has been identified by Professor Roger Tomlin, the Emeritus Lecturer in Late Roman History at the University of Oxford, as a fragment of a funerary epitaph. The phrase references Valeria Apronia, believed to be the daughter of the deceased.

The age of the stone was confirmed by the epigraphist and deputy director of culture and heritage at Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur, Stéphane Morabito.

Morabito confirmed “that the inscription is indeed from the Roman period,” dating the inscription to between 100 and 300 B.C.E. “It is a fragment of an epitaph mentioning a husband or wife (coniunx is valid for both genders) and a Valeria Apronia of whom we do not know the link with the person mentioned previously,” said Morabito. “The name Valeria is very widespread in the Western Roman world and is particularly found in the ancient province of the Maritime Alps on which the city of Vence (and formerly Vintium) is situated. Around ten inscriptions or fragments of inscriptions have been found in this sector of Vence over the centuries, often mentioning the gens (family in the broad sense) of the Valerii (Valerius/Valeria). Nicknames like Apronia made it possible to differentiate different people from each other.”

Photo: Katherine McMahon, Courtesy of Opera Gallery

Blais was born in 1956 and found art world success following his participation in Bernard Lamarche-Vadel’s widely praised group exhibition “Finir en beauté” in 1981. His practice is deeply inspired by the ever-developing history of the area around his home and studio, saying “I am less interested in the appearance of ‘newness’ and more in the permanence and insistence of ancient forms” when discussing his practice which involves collecting, manipulating, and incorporating city-found advertising ephemera into his paintings. He is represented by Opera Gallery.

“In my paintings and practice, I use blocks of posters from advertising panels on city walls. I work with layers of printed images superimposed over time, referencing the imagery and texts of various campaigns. My process involves painting and removing layers of paper to reveal and transform what is buried, evoking a connection to ancient gestures—a coincidence that is both astonishing and familiar,” said the artist.

Photo: Katherine McMahon, Courtesy of Opera Gallery

Speaking about his discovery, Blais told me: “An antique stone in my workshop is more than just a surprise, it’s a twist of fate! My painting always consists of bringing out the shapes of the depths of images added by time. Never has contact with an image so distant taken shape so immediately in my universe. while the history of modern art and the avant-garde is the story and invention of ruptures and differences, I have only ever been passionate about what links and what replays the permanence of art forms since the dawn of time. This epigraphic sign comes at the right time!”

Artists and art-lovers have often hit the headlines having found hidden riches in mundane spaces, from a James Ellery Hale photo worth $50,000 found in an office attic, to Dalí prints discovered in a garage. So, it’s surely sensible not to put off those routine repairs that might reveal concealed treasure—you never know, you might strike gold.