A 400-year-old painting by Sir Peter Paul Rubens has been rediscovered in St Petersburg, more than 80 years after it was rescued from Stalin’s ruthless crackdown on organised religion.

The 17ft canvas, originally unearthed by staff in a store room of the State Hermitage Museum in 2011, is believed to be the “Resurrection of the Christ,” a Rubens painting obtained by Catherine the Great in the 18th century.

Natalia Gritsay, head of the museum’s Old Master section and a specialist in Flemish painting, spent years tracing the origins of the painting after staff first unrolled the canvas at the Hermitage’s new restoration and storage centre in St Petersburg five years ago.

Ms Gritsay’s investigation suggests that the painting was started by Rubens in 1610 or 1611, and l;ater finished by another artist.