A painting thought to have been by a Michelangelo contemporary could be the work of the Renaissance master himself. It may be worth upwards of £100million on the market if authenticated as a missing Michelangelo.

The mid-16th century oil depicting the crucifixion of Jesus has been hanging in a student residence hall at Oxford since the 1930s.

Scholars claim that infra-red technology reveals the hand of Michelangelo in the 12-inch by 27-inch painting.

The work is now held at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and will go in display in Milan and Rome this autumn.