A rare portrait of the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli has been auctioned for 76 million euros in New York. That makes this the second most valuable painting ever by an old master. Only a work by Leonardo da Vinci yielded more four years ago, namely EUR 370 million.
Botticelli’s work was the absolute showpiece of the Sotheby’s auction. As far as is known, only a dozen portraits of the Florentine master have survived and most of them hang in museums. It was previously thought that the painting would be sold for around 66 million euros.
Unknown young man
Botticelli made the painting sometime around 1480. It shows a young man holding a circular painting. It is not known who the man is depicted in the painting. Some experts link him to the influential De ‘Medici family.
The last owner, the late New York real estate owner Sheldon Solow, bought the work in 1982 for over 900,000 euros. For the past few decades Portrait of a young man on display in a number of leading museums, including the National Gallery in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The purchaser has not been disclosed.
A painting by Rembrandt would also be sold at the auction. It was expected that the work would yield 16 to 25 million euros, but the owner withdrew the painting at the last minute.
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