A copy of Salvator Mundi, the price record-smashing painting said to be a rare work by Leonardo da Vinci, was found in a bedroom cupboard in Naples on Saturday, reports the BBC.

The recovered copy, maybe dating from the early 1500s, is thought to be by one of da Vinci's students, possibly Giacomo Alibrandi.

A 36-year-old man at the residence was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen goods, police said.

The painting had been in the Doma Museum collection at the San Domenico Maggiore church in Naples, Italy. It is unknown when the work went missing and no evidence of a break-in was immediately visible. 

“There was no complaint on the matter and in fact we contacted the (church) prior, who was not aware of its disappearance, as the room where the painting is kept has not been open for three months...It is plausible that it was a commissioned theft by an organisation working in the international art trade," Naples prosecutor Giovanni Melillo told the AFP news agency.

The original Salvator Mundi, depicting Christ with a hand raised, was purchased at auction for a world record auction price of $450.3 million in 2017. That painting has since been mysteriously hidden away.