After a bidding duel of approximately seven minutes, the work, “Christ as a Man of Sorrows” was auctioned for a total price of 45 million euros. Sotheby’s had previously estimated the painting’s value at $40 million.
The sales price is therefore close, but is still twice as low as the record amount that a Botticelli has ever brought in. Last year, “Portrait of a Young Man with a Medallion” sold for $92 million.
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According to experts, the work dates from the early sixteenth century, at the end of Botticelli’s life, who died in 1510. In the nineteenth century, the painting belonged to Adelaide Kemble Sartoris, a well-known English singer at the time. After this, the artwork remained in family possession for a while. At the last auction in 1963, it sold for £10,000.
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