A LONG-lost painting has sold for £7,000 at Duke’s Auction House in Dorchester.

The portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh dates from 1613 and shows the famous explorer during his second imprisonment in the Tower of London.

The anonymous work, titled ‘The Tower Portrait’, had been lost to the art world for centuries until a European art expert snapped it up on eBay.

The portrait shows him clutching a book in his left hand, while his right hand rests on a table near an astronomical instrument.

Professor Andrew Hadfield, an expert in English and Medieval Studies at the University of Sussex, says Raleigh is represented as a scholar in mourning for his patron Prince Henry, who had recently died.

X-ray and infrared analysis carried out on the portrait has confirmed it dates from the early 17th century while an expert on Raleigh has identified it as him.

Guy Schwinge, from Duke’s, said: “Paintings of Raleigh are extremely rare and those that exist are in museums. It is extraordinary that this one's whereabouts was unknown for so long.

"We are confident it is not a forgery. Although it is impossible to say with 100 per cent certainty that this is a portrait of Raleigh, all the facts point to it being him.”

The painting was acquired by clergyman Dr Robert Burhill, who died in 1641, and passed down through his family until it went missing.

Art dealer Jonny Yarker, of London gallery Lowell Lisbon & Jonny Yarker Ltd, hailed the portrait’s emergence. He described the artwork as “a thrilling discovery” with “huge historical value.”

A favourite of Elizabeth, Raleigh was knighted and appointed captain of the Queen’s Guard in 1587.

However, in 1603 he was implicated in a plot against James I. He was executed at the Palace of Westminster in 1618, five years after the painting is thought to have been completed.

Before the sale on Friday, one top-end London dealer, who described it a 'thrilling discovery', believed it could fetch a 'high six figure sum' if genuine.