A French art expert believes he has solved the mystery of the model in a celebrated 19th century painting as a result of an art lover's 1,400 euro antique shop purchase that could turn out to be worth 40 million euros ($53.6 million), weekly Paris Match reported on Thursday. "The Origin of the World" (1866) by French painter Gustave Courbet depicts female genitalia but does not show the woman's face.