Goodwill employee discovers valuable art in donation pile

An employee at a Goodwill in Northern Virginia was going through the regular pile of donations when a particular painting caught her eye. Recognizing the piece to be of a different caliber than others, Maria Rivera set it aside for an expert to examine. He determined that it was an original work by Giovanni Battista Torriglia, a 19th-century Italian painter and appraised it at $12,000. Rivera has said she feels proud to know that her discovery will help raise so much money for Goodwill. It is up for auction until Jan. 16 at the Goodwill of Greater Washington.