Botticelli’s portrait sold at auction for more than $ 92 million

Botticelli’s portrait sold at auction for more than $ 92 million

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Written by Oscar Holland, CNN

Contributors Jacqui PalumboLily Smith, CNN

One of the last portraits of Sandro Botticelli left in private hands, sold at auction for more than $ 92 million (after taxes) at Sotheby’s New York on Thursday morning.

The 15th century painting “Young man holding a Roundel” became the most expensive work by the Renaissance artist to appear at auction and the most valuable work by the Old Masters ever sold at a Sotheby’s, the auction house announced.

It is believed to have been produced in the late 1470s or early 1480s, the portrait was purchased by its previous owner in 1982 for just £ 810,000 (just over $ 1 million at current value). It depicts an unidentified young man holding a small circular painting known as a roundel.

The roundel itself contains a miniature religious portrait of the 14th century Siena painter, Bartolomeo Bulgarini, which Botticelli incorporated into the work.

Botticelli incorporated the work of an artist prior to the circle made by his unidentified theme.

Botticelli incorporated the work of an artist prior to the circle made by his unidentified theme. Credit: Sotheby’s

“This painting is not only the largest Botticelli in private hands, but should be considered one of the best Renaissance paintings on private property,” Christopher Sotheby’s head of the Old Master painting department, Christopher Apostle, said in an email before the sale.
Having considered the work “one of the most significant portraits of any period to appear at auction”, Sotheby’s initially estimated bids in excess of $ 80 million. But Apostle also predicted that it could “very well be the next painting to exceed the rarified $ 100 million limit”. Had he done so, he would have become the first painting to reach a nine-figure amount at an auction since Claude Monet’s “Haystacks”, which grossed more than $ 110 million in 2019.

Although not as well known as Botticelli’s masterpieces such as “The Birth of Venus” and “Spring”, the portrait sold on Thursday “portrays the Renaissance man par excellence,” said the apostle. “It has a very modern feel, largely thanks to its surprising condition and configuration,” he said.

How do art auctions really work?

Market rarity

Although it was celebrated during his lifetime, Botticelli’s legacy faded after his death in 1510. It was only in the late 19th century that interest in his work was rekindled.

Today, however, he is considered a key figure in the Western art tradition. A successful exhibition of around 40 of the painter’s works, opening in September at the Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris, is among the most anticipated art shows of 2021.

Botticelli rarely produced portraits, focusing most of his career on religious scenes and paintings from classical mythology. Only a dozen or more are known to have survived, with almost all now found in museum collections.

Before Thursday’s sale, the auction record for one of his paintings was $ 10.4 million paid by “Madonna and her son with the young Saint John the Baptist” – also known as “A Madonna Rockefeller” – on Christie’s in New York in 2013

“The birth of Venus” portrayed on display at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence in 2016. Credit: Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / Getty Images

“Young Man Holding a Roundel” was the star of the sale of Sotheby’s “Master Paintings and Sculpture”, which brought together still lifes and portraits of famous European artists. The other standout plot, a rare biblical scene by Rembrandt entitled “Abraham and the Angels”, which has not appeared at auction since the 1840s, was one of four works withdrawn shortly before the sale began.

Other items yet to be sold as part of the auction house’s Masters Week series include a 17th-century sculpture by Pietro and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, with an estimated sale between $ 8 million and $ 12 million, and a triptych by Flemish painter Pieter Coecke van Aelst, which is expected to make up to $ 3.5 million.

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