Years 1500-1519
See also : Top 10 Painting Ancient painting Madonna and Child Italy Italy II Italian painting 1280-1700 Ancient Germany Flemish art Art on paper Ancient drawing Later Ming Chinese calligraphy Autograph Manuscript Sciences Ancient science The Man Christianity Religious texts Islam
1500 Between Last Supper and Mona Lisa
2017 SOLD for $ 450M including premium
The Salvator Mundi painted by Leonardo was known in workshop's copies but the original was considered lost. The meticulous inspection made by the experts with modern techniques has just brought one of these paintings to the rank of original with undeniable arguments.
The picture shows Christ holding the orb of the world in his left hand and blessing with the raised fingers of his right hand. The mystical message without the divine attribute of the halo competes with the holy shrouds recognized as authentic at his time while adding attitude and gesture. The orb that prophesies the rescue of the world is a reflective crystal ball through which the viewer perceives the palm of the hand.
This painting had belonged to King Charles I of England. It was probably hanging in the private apartments of Queen Henriette who was born in the French royal family. Its previous whereabouts are unknown. A possible hypothesis is a French royal order during the Italian wars. King Louis XII was so impressed by the Last Supper that he wanted to take the wall to France.
The analyzes provided a lot of information on the realization and history of this painting. The perfection of the expression is concentrated in the lips and the gaze, anticipating the Mona Lisa. The mouth was drawn by the technique of pierced drawing used by other great masters of that time including Raphael and Andrea del Sarto. One of the eyes was softened by a spread of color pushed by the wrist of the artist.
Leonardo cared little for the supporting materials. The conservation woes of the Last Supper are famous. The original panel of Salvator Mundi was early split because of a knot in the wood. The accident caused awkward repainting on the face. Anonymous owners then extended these repaints to the point that only peripheral regions including the hands were still visible in their original quality.
All of that has been conscientiously repaired. Fortunately the sfumato remained in very good condition under the disagreeable layers that were removed. This signature Leonardo technique makes it possible to compare the Salvator Mundi with the Mona Lisa which is the culmination of his art. The perfectionist preparation of his paintings could last several years. A date around 1500 is plausible for the Salvator Mundi.
Christ the savior of the world by Leonardo, oil on panel 66 x 46 cm, will be sold by Christie's in New York on November 15, lot 9 B. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The picture shows Christ holding the orb of the world in his left hand and blessing with the raised fingers of his right hand. The mystical message without the divine attribute of the halo competes with the holy shrouds recognized as authentic at his time while adding attitude and gesture. The orb that prophesies the rescue of the world is a reflective crystal ball through which the viewer perceives the palm of the hand.
This painting had belonged to King Charles I of England. It was probably hanging in the private apartments of Queen Henriette who was born in the French royal family. Its previous whereabouts are unknown. A possible hypothesis is a French royal order during the Italian wars. King Louis XII was so impressed by the Last Supper that he wanted to take the wall to France.
The analyzes provided a lot of information on the realization and history of this painting. The perfection of the expression is concentrated in the lips and the gaze, anticipating the Mona Lisa. The mouth was drawn by the technique of pierced drawing used by other great masters of that time including Raphael and Andrea del Sarto. One of the eyes was softened by a spread of color pushed by the wrist of the artist.
Leonardo cared little for the supporting materials. The conservation woes of the Last Supper are famous. The original panel of Salvator Mundi was early split because of a knot in the wood. The accident caused awkward repainting on the face. Anonymous owners then extended these repaints to the point that only peripheral regions including the hands were still visible in their original quality.
All of that has been conscientiously repaired. Fortunately the sfumato remained in very good condition under the disagreeable layers that were removed. This signature Leonardo technique makes it possible to compare the Salvator Mundi with the Mona Lisa which is the culmination of his art. The perfectionist preparation of his paintings could last several years. A date around 1500 is plausible for the Salvator Mundi.
Christ the savior of the world by Leonardo, oil on panel 66 x 46 cm, will be sold by Christie's in New York on November 15, lot 9 B. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Last Leonardo da Vinci Painting in Private Hands at Auction #salvatormundi @ChristiesInc https://t.co/Ea9TjrgW3O pic.twitter.com/NJBHcu5lu9
— ARTFIX daily (@ARTFIXdaily) October 10, 2017
Simon Marmion's Successor
2014 SOLD 3.6 M$ including premium
The printed book forever changed the way of forwarding literature and culture. It was also the source of a transformation in art.
Simon Marmion was one of the best manuscript illuminators of the second half of the fifteenth century. He managed a workshop in Valenciennes, in the County of Hainaut that went politically and artistically under Burgundian influence. When he died in 1489, Jan Provost married his widow and succeeded him.
On January 29 in New York, Christie's sells an Annunciation painted by Provost around the very first years of the sixteenth century. At that time, the artist had two workshops, in Bruges and Antwerp, and was a member of the guilds in both cities.
The Annunciation was a favorite theme of ancient painting, offering the opportunity to stage a friendly meeting between two young people, kind and charming. This one is much pleasant.
This oil on panel 52 x 40 cm has the anecdotal freshness of an illumination. We admire the detail of the angel wings treated naturalistically like the feathers of a bird, and the quality of the drawing of a small vase with flowers that anticipates by decades the importance of this theme in Flemish art.
The Annunciation is estimated $ 2M, lot 156 in the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very interesting painting from the Flemish Renaissance was sold for $ 3.6M including premium.
Simon Marmion was one of the best manuscript illuminators of the second half of the fifteenth century. He managed a workshop in Valenciennes, in the County of Hainaut that went politically and artistically under Burgundian influence. When he died in 1489, Jan Provost married his widow and succeeded him.
On January 29 in New York, Christie's sells an Annunciation painted by Provost around the very first years of the sixteenth century. At that time, the artist had two workshops, in Bruges and Antwerp, and was a member of the guilds in both cities.
The Annunciation was a favorite theme of ancient painting, offering the opportunity to stage a friendly meeting between two young people, kind and charming. This one is much pleasant.
This oil on panel 52 x 40 cm has the anecdotal freshness of an illumination. We admire the detail of the angel wings treated naturalistically like the feathers of a bird, and the quality of the drawing of a small vase with flowers that anticipates by decades the importance of this theme in Flemish art.
The Annunciation is estimated $ 2M, lot 156 in the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very interesting painting from the Flemish Renaissance was sold for $ 3.6M including premium.
1504 Michelangelo's Lost Battle
2011 SOLD 3.2 M£ including premium
Nothing is too good at this end of year 1504 for the council of the Florentine republic. The city hall, known at that time as the Palazzo della Signoria and today as the Palazzo Vecchio had been remodeled, and they must now fill with frescoes the Sala del Gran Consiglio.
The theme was chosen: the epic battles of the Florentines against Pisa and Milan. Two large walls were entrusted to the best Italian artists of the period, Leonardo and Michelangelo.
The eldest, Leonardo, 54, chose a heroic scene of the battle of Anghiari, a terrible clash of riders for the control of a standard.
Michelangelo, 29, finds in the Battle of Cascina an excuse to show naked soldiers. Surprised by the enemy while they are bathing in the river, they take various attitudes justified by panic.
24 preparatory drawings for the Battle of Cascina are known. One of them, the only privately owned, is for sale by Christie's in London on July 5. It is a double sided sheet, 21 x 18 cm, estimated £ 3M.
This drawing in black chalk shows on the recto a muscular male back, illustrated on the release shared by AuctionPublicity. The verso includes interspersed sketches.
Michelangelo realized a cartoon of his project, but left almost immediately for Rome. The cartoon was destroyed. Leonardo began the fresco of Anghiari but failed to overcome the technical difficulties and gave up.
POST SALE COMMENT
Despite the fame of the artist, Christie's was able to find a fair estimate. This drawing was sold £ 3.2 million including premium.
The theme was chosen: the epic battles of the Florentines against Pisa and Milan. Two large walls were entrusted to the best Italian artists of the period, Leonardo and Michelangelo.
The eldest, Leonardo, 54, chose a heroic scene of the battle of Anghiari, a terrible clash of riders for the control of a standard.
Michelangelo, 29, finds in the Battle of Cascina an excuse to show naked soldiers. Surprised by the enemy while they are bathing in the river, they take various attitudes justified by panic.
24 preparatory drawings for the Battle of Cascina are known. One of them, the only privately owned, is for sale by Christie's in London on July 5. It is a double sided sheet, 21 x 18 cm, estimated £ 3M.
This drawing in black chalk shows on the recto a muscular male back, illustrated on the release shared by AuctionPublicity. The verso includes interspersed sketches.
Michelangelo realized a cartoon of his project, but left almost immediately for Rome. The cartoon was destroyed. Leonardo began the fresco of Anghiari but failed to overcome the technical difficulties and gave up.
POST SALE COMMENT
Despite the fame of the artist, Christie's was able to find a fair estimate. This drawing was sold £ 3.2 million including premium.
1505 The Best Artists from Ghent and Bruges
2014 SOLD 13.6 M$ uncluding premium
The printed book cannot claim to achieve the beauty of illuminated manuscripts. Under the Habsburgs, the best Flemish painters illustrate books of great luxury. They have not revealed all their secrets : the artists did not sign and the sponsors are not identified.
One of these masterpieces is known as the Rothschild Prayerbook. It was sold for £ 8.6 million including premium at Christie's on July 8, 1999. It is estimated $ 12M, for sale by Christie 's in New York on January 29.
It is a book of hours for the use of Rome (meaning that is based on Roman liturgy), made around 1505 in Ghent or Bruges. In a small format 23 x 16 cm, this book with 252 leaves in luxurious vellum includes 67 large illustrations.
From an iconographic point of view, it is a fabulous collection of religious and liturgical scenes, showing in very fresh colors the life and customs of its time. Decorative borders offer an extended variety of topics.
The styles of these images clearly show that several workshops have co-operated, and comparison with other manuscripts and paintings can identify that it was made by the most renowned artists of their time. Their co-operation in such collective artworks was an extraordinary and unique business of which no direct witnessing has surfaced.
The main illustrators of the Rothschild Prayerbook were Gerard Horenbout who worked at Ghent and Alexander Bening, a member of the guilds of Bruges and Ghent. Simon Bening, son of Alexander, to whom a few images are attributed, will be the last great Flemish illuminator. The style of Gerard David, the leading painter in Bruges at that time, is recognized on several images.
POST SALE COMMENT
This masterpiece reaches once again a great price : $ 13.6M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's :
One of these masterpieces is known as the Rothschild Prayerbook. It was sold for £ 8.6 million including premium at Christie's on July 8, 1999. It is estimated $ 12M, for sale by Christie 's in New York on January 29.
It is a book of hours for the use of Rome (meaning that is based on Roman liturgy), made around 1505 in Ghent or Bruges. In a small format 23 x 16 cm, this book with 252 leaves in luxurious vellum includes 67 large illustrations.
From an iconographic point of view, it is a fabulous collection of religious and liturgical scenes, showing in very fresh colors the life and customs of its time. Decorative borders offer an extended variety of topics.
The styles of these images clearly show that several workshops have co-operated, and comparison with other manuscripts and paintings can identify that it was made by the most renowned artists of their time. Their co-operation in such collective artworks was an extraordinary and unique business of which no direct witnessing has surfaced.
The main illustrators of the Rothschild Prayerbook were Gerard Horenbout who worked at Ghent and Alexander Bening, a member of the guilds of Bruges and Ghent. Simon Bening, son of Alexander, to whom a few images are attributed, will be the last great Flemish illuminator. The style of Gerard David, the leading painter in Bruges at that time, is recognized on several images.
POST SALE COMMENT
This masterpiece reaches once again a great price : $ 13.6M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's :
A very #MerryChristmas to all. Here’s a stunning #nativity scene from the #RothschildPrayerbook! pic.twitter.com/RIVYbiXLjC
— Christie's Books (@ChristiesBKS) December 25, 2015
1508 The Sorrow of the Old Poet
2019 SOLD for $ 3M including premium
Shen Zhou was born to a family of wealthy landowners in the vicinity of Suzhou, 100 km northwest of Shanghai. Having received an excellent literati training, he manages to escape the official functions by an action that is characterized as a filial piety. He is known for his human qualities, transcribed in the line altogether firm, frank and serene of his drawing and of his writing.
Far away from the imperial court, he becomes a professional artist and poet. Along with his disciples, he forms the informal School of Wu, a former name of Suzhou. The reputation of this provincial group becomes national.
In 1502 CE, Shen Zhou loses his son. He expresses his sorrow in the following year with a collection of ten poems on the theme of falling flowers. The literary quality of this work provokes a dialogue between the old poet and his disciples through the composition by all parties of additional poems, some of which reusing the rhymes of the original poems.
An autograph handscroll, signed but undated, consisting of the complete set of the original ten poems plus three responses by the same author, is estimated $ 1.2M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on March 22, lot 1168.
This piece applies the style of Huang Tingjian, one of the greatest masters of calligraphy under the Song. It is very comparable in its writing to a scroll kept at the Taipei Museum which includes an autograph painting and a frontispiece as well as a response dated 1508 CE by his best disciple. Shen Zhou dies in the following year at 82 years old.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Far away from the imperial court, he becomes a professional artist and poet. Along with his disciples, he forms the informal School of Wu, a former name of Suzhou. The reputation of this provincial group becomes national.
In 1502 CE, Shen Zhou loses his son. He expresses his sorrow in the following year with a collection of ten poems on the theme of falling flowers. The literary quality of this work provokes a dialogue between the old poet and his disciples through the composition by all parties of additional poems, some of which reusing the rhymes of the original poems.
An autograph handscroll, signed but undated, consisting of the complete set of the original ten poems plus three responses by the same author, is estimated $ 1.2M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on March 22, lot 1168.
This piece applies the style of Huang Tingjian, one of the greatest masters of calligraphy under the Song. It is very comparable in its writing to a scroll kept at the Taipei Museum which includes an autograph painting and a frontispiece as well as a response dated 1508 CE by his best disciple. Shen Zhou dies in the following year at 82 years old.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
#AuctionUpdate Shen Zhou's 'Poems on Falling Flowers in Running Script', a rare and extraordinary handscroll, soars to $3 million, well exceeding its $1.8 million high estimate #SothebysAsianArt pic.twitter.com/6opS9kywrt
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 22, 2019
1510 The Codex Leicester of Leonardo da Vinci
1994 SOLD for $ 31M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
From 1475 Leonardo da Vinci recorded everyday all his ideas about the nature of the world in its whole variety, in the form of notes in ancient Italian language illustrated with sketches. In this polygraphic bulimia, he accumulated about 13,000 pages, on double-sided sheets folded in half.
Leonardo is neither a scientist nor an engineer in the modern meaning of these terms. He does not waste his time analyzing the consequences of his theories or conceiving the realization of his inventions. In his swarming of ideas, he could be wonderfully right and naively wrong, and he was certainly unable to distinguish between these two extremes.
For this left-hander, the mirror writing is the way he has found so that his thinking is not slowed down by his hand. The use of numerous abbreviations, which makes these texts extremely difficult to decipher, is consistent with this hypothesis. We will never know how he desired exploiting such a unique mass of informations.
These writings were later assembled into notebooks, identified under the more technical term of codex. The Codex Leicester is the only one remaining in private hands. It was sold twice by Christie's, for $ 5.1M on December 12, 1980 and for $ 31M including premium on November 11, 1994. Between these two sales it was named the Codex Hammer. It was bought by Bill Gates at the last auction. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The Codex Leicester is made up of 18 double sheets of parchment for a total of 72 pages 22 x 30 cm. It brings together his notes written around 1510 on the theme of the water movements. The author imagines that his ideas could be used for the design of bridges.
His observation on the presence of fossils in the mountains brings an explanation far ahead of his time : they were originally in a seabed which was raised by a geophysical phenomenon. This hypothesis is all the more remarkable since the monotheistic religions of his time do not question the creationism.
In the same notebook, he explains the luminosity of the Moon by the reflection of sunlight on its surface entirely covered with water.
Leonardo is neither a scientist nor an engineer in the modern meaning of these terms. He does not waste his time analyzing the consequences of his theories or conceiving the realization of his inventions. In his swarming of ideas, he could be wonderfully right and naively wrong, and he was certainly unable to distinguish between these two extremes.
For this left-hander, the mirror writing is the way he has found so that his thinking is not slowed down by his hand. The use of numerous abbreviations, which makes these texts extremely difficult to decipher, is consistent with this hypothesis. We will never know how he desired exploiting such a unique mass of informations.
These writings were later assembled into notebooks, identified under the more technical term of codex. The Codex Leicester is the only one remaining in private hands. It was sold twice by Christie's, for $ 5.1M on December 12, 1980 and for $ 31M including premium on November 11, 1994. Between these two sales it was named the Codex Hammer. It was bought by Bill Gates at the last auction. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The Codex Leicester is made up of 18 double sheets of parchment for a total of 72 pages 22 x 30 cm. It brings together his notes written around 1510 on the theme of the water movements. The author imagines that his ideas could be used for the design of bridges.
His observation on the presence of fossils in the mountains brings an explanation far ahead of his time : they were originally in a seabed which was raised by a geophysical phenomenon. This hypothesis is all the more remarkable since the monotheistic religions of his time do not question the creationism.
In the same notebook, he explains the luminosity of the Moon by the reflection of sunlight on its surface entirely covered with water.
1508-1511 Raphael and the Vatican Muse
2009 SOLD 29.1 M£ including premium
The three great Italian masters of the early sixteenth century were Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raffaello. A drawing of one of them coming on the market is an event.
The author of the work we are discussing today is Raphael, the youngest of the three. For five centuries, all the art critics have praised him and noted the perfection of his paintings. His works were the subject of preparatory drawings very sharp, detailed and contrasted, at the exact size he wanted for the final motif.
Knowing the above, we understand better why some drawings are composite, for example hand and head . But the black chalk drawing 30.5 x 22.2 cm that Christie's will sell in London on December 8 is more important.
This pretty young woman head with flying hair in full frame is a preparation for a character of a Muse. It still have the perforations made by the artist to project the outline through the paper on the frescoes of the Vatican (1508 to 1511). It is estimated 12 million pounds.
This sale passionates the press. Here are the articles shared by Bloomberg, by Guardian and by Telegraph.
POST SALE COMMENT
We were here in the presence of a real historical work, because of the role played by this drawing in the process of decoration of the Vatican.
The result is also historical from the point of view of auction.
Sold £ 29.1 million including premium, it is the world record for a work on paper, and the second highest price for a work of ancient art, according to the information provided by Christie's.
The author of the work we are discussing today is Raphael, the youngest of the three. For five centuries, all the art critics have praised him and noted the perfection of his paintings. His works were the subject of preparatory drawings very sharp, detailed and contrasted, at the exact size he wanted for the final motif.
Knowing the above, we understand better why some drawings are composite, for example hand and head . But the black chalk drawing 30.5 x 22.2 cm that Christie's will sell in London on December 8 is more important.
This pretty young woman head with flying hair in full frame is a preparation for a character of a Muse. It still have the perforations made by the artist to project the outline through the paper on the frescoes of the Vatican (1508 to 1511). It is estimated 12 million pounds.
This sale passionates the press. Here are the articles shared by Bloomberg, by Guardian and by Telegraph.
POST SALE COMMENT
We were here in the presence of a real historical work, because of the role played by this drawing in the process of decoration of the Vatican.
The result is also historical from the point of view of auction.
Sold £ 29.1 million including premium, it is the world record for a work on paper, and the second highest price for a work of ancient art, according to the information provided by Christie's.
#Raphael was #BornOnThisDay in 1483. In 2009, we offered an auxiliary sketch by #Raphael. The drawing, one of the best of Raphael’s surviving sketches set a #WorldAuctionRecord for a work on paper at £29,161,250 https://t.co/GDloR0vDil pic.twitter.com/pfYMt2hbGe
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) April 6, 2019
1510 Cranach, Precursor of the Reformation
2012 SOLD 5.1 M$ including premium
Cranach, like his contemporaries, is a painter of Biblical and Christian scenes. Looking for examples of morality, he does not hesitate to consider a pagan theme: the death of Lucretia, told and perhaps invented by Livy to glorify Augustus.
Lucretia is the perfect synthesis of two opposite qualities designed to bring the best of the virtuosity of Cranach. She must be physically erotic, as her beauty has fueled the frenzy of the king's son. She must also be psychologically pure, since she could not survive the stain.
The oil on panel, 60 x 49 cm, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on January 26 is exceptional. The catalog describes two arguments for dating it circa 1510, so making it the earliest of the many Lucretias of Cranach.
On technical side, the support is a special assembly of strips of lime wood that has been produced during a very short period.
On image side, it is a very neat portrait with a flexible line, which anticipates the commercial versions executed on order. The heroine has a sad and stoic face at the precise moment when she drives the tip of the knife to her bare breast and when the first drop of blood flows almost imperceptibly.
This masterpiece is estimated $ 4M. Here is the link to the catalog.
Luther enters history in 1517. One can imagine that he was sensitive to the approach of this painter who glorified the virtues without referencing to the saints. Cranach became the best artist of the first generation of Lutheran reformers.
POST SALE COMMENT
The catalog was convincing: Sotheby's has assessed the importance of this painting in the work of Cranach the Elder. The result, $ 5.1 million including premium, is deserved.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
Lucretia is the perfect synthesis of two opposite qualities designed to bring the best of the virtuosity of Cranach. She must be physically erotic, as her beauty has fueled the frenzy of the king's son. She must also be psychologically pure, since she could not survive the stain.
The oil on panel, 60 x 49 cm, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on January 26 is exceptional. The catalog describes two arguments for dating it circa 1510, so making it the earliest of the many Lucretias of Cranach.
On technical side, the support is a special assembly of strips of lime wood that has been produced during a very short period.
On image side, it is a very neat portrait with a flexible line, which anticipates the commercial versions executed on order. The heroine has a sad and stoic face at the precise moment when she drives the tip of the knife to her bare breast and when the first drop of blood flows almost imperceptibly.
This masterpiece is estimated $ 4M. Here is the link to the catalog.
Luther enters history in 1517. One can imagine that he was sensitive to the approach of this painter who glorified the virtues without referencing to the saints. Cranach became the best artist of the first generation of Lutheran reformers.
POST SALE COMMENT
The catalog was convincing: Sotheby's has assessed the importance of this painting in the work of Cranach the Elder. The result, $ 5.1 million including premium, is deserved.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
1510 The Box of an Ottoman Gemologist
2010 SOLD 2.4 M£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The box is a useful object. In ancient Asia, if it was made for an emperor or a sultan, it could reach an incredible elegance.
Such a piece has just appeared on the market, for sale by Sotheby's in London on April 14. Its origin is located in Ottoman Turkey around the year 910 AH, 500 years ago. Its inscriptions indicate that it was designed to contain scales used for weighing gemstones.
Inlaid with ivory, turquoise and gold and set with rubies, this rectangular box, whose central part is illustrated in the press release shared by ArtDaily, is measuring 17.3 x 8.8 x 3.2 cm. Its partitioned ornamentation and refined vegetable motifs assess a combined influence of Ottoman art and of art of the Safavids, who just seized power in Persia. For this reason, it may be assumed that the craftsman who made it came from Tabriz.
Such a treasure, one of a kind, must yet have a price. It begins with an estimate of £ 500K.
POST SALE COMMENT
The most luxurious antiques have fervent fans. Result: £ 2.4 million including premium.
The box is a useful object. In ancient Asia, if it was made for an emperor or a sultan, it could reach an incredible elegance.
Such a piece has just appeared on the market, for sale by Sotheby's in London on April 14. Its origin is located in Ottoman Turkey around the year 910 AH, 500 years ago. Its inscriptions indicate that it was designed to contain scales used for weighing gemstones.
Inlaid with ivory, turquoise and gold and set with rubies, this rectangular box, whose central part is illustrated in the press release shared by ArtDaily, is measuring 17.3 x 8.8 x 3.2 cm. Its partitioned ornamentation and refined vegetable motifs assess a combined influence of Ottoman art and of art of the Safavids, who just seized power in Persia. For this reason, it may be assumed that the craftsman who made it came from Tabriz.
Such a treasure, one of a kind, must yet have a price. It begins with an estimate of £ 500K.
POST SALE COMMENT
The most luxurious antiques have fervent fans. Result: £ 2.4 million including premium.
1511 The Altarpiece of a Saxon Donor
2012 SOLD 4.3 M£ including premium
On July 4 in London, Sotheby's sells a set of five oil paintings assembled into a folding triptych. The origin is known: these paintings were done shortly after the death in 1511 of a wealthy Saxon named Jobst von Feilitzsch to adorn the altar of his private chapel, and were kept in the family during four centuries and a half.
The central panel, 88 x72 cm, shows St. Anne with the Virgin and Child. The external and internal panels of the wings, 91 x 33 cm, are showing saints along with a postmortem portrait of the donor.
These portraits are beautiful. All these characters have a strong psychological dimension, as we perfectly appreciate when revealing the artist: Lucas Cranach the elder, himself, perhaps without the participation of his studio. At that time, the master had doubtless already assimilated the influence of Raphael.
The arrangement of these five works in a folding triptych seems natural, yet it is unclear what was the original presentation. In the seventeenth century, they had been reframed as a single row. It is remarkable that they were never separated. The set is estimated £ 4M, lot 7.
POST SALE COMMENT
Atypical lots are difficult to sell. Sold £ 4.3M including premium, this one remained just below its lower estimate.
I invite you to play the video in which Sotheby's has grouped this lot with a painting by Hans Baldung Grien.
Baldung Grien's painting presented in this video was sold £ 2.1 million including premium.
The images of the five panels are shared by Wikimedia.
LATER COMMENT
The set was separated. The internal wings of the altarpiece have been sold together for $ 1.22M including premium by Sotheby's in New York on January 29, 2020 from a lower estimate of $ 1M, lot 5.
The central panel, 88 x72 cm, shows St. Anne with the Virgin and Child. The external and internal panels of the wings, 91 x 33 cm, are showing saints along with a postmortem portrait of the donor.
These portraits are beautiful. All these characters have a strong psychological dimension, as we perfectly appreciate when revealing the artist: Lucas Cranach the elder, himself, perhaps without the participation of his studio. At that time, the master had doubtless already assimilated the influence of Raphael.
The arrangement of these five works in a folding triptych seems natural, yet it is unclear what was the original presentation. In the seventeenth century, they had been reframed as a single row. It is remarkable that they were never separated. The set is estimated £ 4M, lot 7.
POST SALE COMMENT
Atypical lots are difficult to sell. Sold £ 4.3M including premium, this one remained just below its lower estimate.
I invite you to play the video in which Sotheby's has grouped this lot with a painting by Hans Baldung Grien.
Baldung Grien's painting presented in this video was sold £ 2.1 million including premium.
The images of the five panels are shared by Wikimedia.
LATER COMMENT
The set was separated. The internal wings of the altarpiece have been sold together for $ 1.22M including premium by Sotheby's in New York on January 29, 2020 from a lower estimate of $ 1M, lot 5.
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1514 Cristo della Minerva by Michelangelo
2000 SOLD for £ 8.1M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
The gradual revelation of the antique sculpture arouses the enthusiasm of patrons. Michelangelo becomes the great specialist in the male nude. On this theme, David, completed in 1504 when the artist was not yet 30 years old, was his masterpiece. This monumental statue is also a technical feat, made in a block of marble whose gigantic dimensions had discouraged his predecessors.
From 1505, Michelangelo is in Rome. His patron, with whom relations are often difficult, is Pope Julius II, who is reconstructing Saint Peter's Basilica around the project of his monumental tomb, the execution of which is entrusted to Michelangelo. It was also during this period that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.
Julius II died in 1513. While waiting for instructions from his heirs to continue or not working on the funerary monument, Michelangelo accepted commitments from other clients.
In 1514 he receives an order for a life-size Redeemer Christ for adorning a funeral altar in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. This Christ will be standing, passionately holding the cross in a total nudity which will attest to his purity.
Michelangelo is very enthusiastic, understandably, for this project which is perfectly matching his fervent but somewhat risque conception of Christian piety. According to his usual practice, he begins to prepare drawings of high graphic accuracy to anticipate shapes and lights. Many of these sketches were destroyed by the artist himself because they disclosed too much information about his know-how.
A 24 x 21 cm double-sided preparatory drawing intermingling figures for the Cristo della Minerva has survived. The side commonly considered as the back is certainly the first. It includes a study of legs and feet. On the other side, the body serves as a support for a crosshatched study of the textures of the abdomen. This drawing was sold for £ 8.1M including premium by Christie's on July 4, 2000, lot 83.
Two marble statues of this vigorous Christ were made. The first, autograph, was abandoned after the chiseling of the left cheek revealed a black vein in the marble. The second, damaged by clumsy apprentices, ended up being guaranteed as authentic by Michelangelo, not without reluctance. It was described as mirabilissima by Vasari. At the time of the Counter-Reformation, the Catholics will add the stigmata, as well as a bronze loincloth to hide the sexual organs.
From 1505, Michelangelo is in Rome. His patron, with whom relations are often difficult, is Pope Julius II, who is reconstructing Saint Peter's Basilica around the project of his monumental tomb, the execution of which is entrusted to Michelangelo. It was also during this period that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.
Julius II died in 1513. While waiting for instructions from his heirs to continue or not working on the funerary monument, Michelangelo accepted commitments from other clients.
In 1514 he receives an order for a life-size Redeemer Christ for adorning a funeral altar in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. This Christ will be standing, passionately holding the cross in a total nudity which will attest to his purity.
Michelangelo is very enthusiastic, understandably, for this project which is perfectly matching his fervent but somewhat risque conception of Christian piety. According to his usual practice, he begins to prepare drawings of high graphic accuracy to anticipate shapes and lights. Many of these sketches were destroyed by the artist himself because they disclosed too much information about his know-how.
A 24 x 21 cm double-sided preparatory drawing intermingling figures for the Cristo della Minerva has survived. The side commonly considered as the back is certainly the first. It includes a study of legs and feet. On the other side, the body serves as a support for a crosshatched study of the textures of the abdomen. This drawing was sold for £ 8.1M including premium by Christie's on July 4, 2000, lot 83.
Two marble statues of this vigorous Christ were made. The first, autograph, was abandoned after the chiseling of the left cheek revealed a black vein in the marble. The second, damaged by clumsy apprentices, ended up being guaranteed as authentic by Michelangelo, not without reluctance. It was described as mirabilissima by Vasari. At the time of the Counter-Reformation, the Catholics will add the stigmata, as well as a bronze loincloth to hide the sexual organs.
1515-1519 The Holy Family by Gerard David
2018 SOLD for £ 4.8M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
A Dutch native, Gerard David spent his entire career in Bruges. His art is almost exclusively religious. He does not sign his works but they form a coherent corpus, which evolves over four decades from the primitivism inspired by the schools of Bruges and Ghent to the integration of the new conceptions of painting of the school of Antwerp.
He is the last major artist from Bruges. In 1515 he was most probably the artist who joined the guild of painters in Antwerp under the name of Meester Gheraert van Brugghe. His workshop remains in Bruges but a new period opens for technique and themes. A legal conflict in 1519 with one of his assistants seems to mark the terminus ante quem of his major works.
The Holy Family, oil on panel 41 x 33 cm, is typical of his period under the influence of Antwerp. The family group is shown in a close framing. The cheek-to-cheek attitude of the mother and child is tender and natural. The drawing is realistic and well proportioned, the painting is as soft as a sfumato. The dendrochronology gives a terminus post quem in 1511. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The future drama of the Child is symbolized in an unusual way, by apples. He is holding a fresh apple in his hand while Saint Joseph brings two rotten apples on the lid of a bowl. A composition in a very similar style, the Virgin and Child with milk soup, includes also a fresh apple, on the table next to the bread.
The Holy Family was sold for $ 1M including premium by Christie's on January 24, 2003. As often with old painting, it was disadvantaged by a yellow varnish. Its restoration has brought back the splendid colors as well as the transparency of the veil, in an excellent state of conservation. It was sold for £ 4.8M including premium by Christie's on July 5, 2018, lot 31.
He is the last major artist from Bruges. In 1515 he was most probably the artist who joined the guild of painters in Antwerp under the name of Meester Gheraert van Brugghe. His workshop remains in Bruges but a new period opens for technique and themes. A legal conflict in 1519 with one of his assistants seems to mark the terminus ante quem of his major works.
The Holy Family, oil on panel 41 x 33 cm, is typical of his period under the influence of Antwerp. The family group is shown in a close framing. The cheek-to-cheek attitude of the mother and child is tender and natural. The drawing is realistic and well proportioned, the painting is as soft as a sfumato. The dendrochronology gives a terminus post quem in 1511. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The future drama of the Child is symbolized in an unusual way, by apples. He is holding a fresh apple in his hand while Saint Joseph brings two rotten apples on the lid of a bowl. A composition in a very similar style, the Virgin and Child with milk soup, includes also a fresh apple, on the table next to the bread.
The Holy Family was sold for $ 1M including premium by Christie's on January 24, 2003. As often with old painting, it was disadvantaged by a yellow varnish. Its restoration has brought back the splendid colors as well as the transparency of the veil, in an excellent state of conservation. It was sold for £ 4.8M including premium by Christie's on July 5, 2018, lot 31.
1516 Poems on planting bamboo by Li Dongyang
2019 SOLD for $ 4.6M including premium by Christie's
Ling to catalog.
#AuctionUpdate Li Dongyan’s ‘Fourteen Poems on Planting Bamboo’ has achieved an incredible $4,575,000, more than five times its low estimate, in our #NewYork Fine Chinese Paintings sale #AsianArtWeek https://t.co/tYv8y3Wkk0 pic.twitter.com/ht1ztznzRT
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 19, 2019
1517 Portrait of a Medalist
2016 SOLD for $ 3.25M including premium
On January 27 in New York, Sotheby's sells as lot 8 a miniature bust portrait of a man from the Renaissance. This round piece is oil painted on a carved walnut panel 12 cm in diameter. The painted surface is 10.1 cm in diameter.
Traces of raw wood indicate that this precious work had once a lid, for being used as a portable medallion. This structure is now quite rare, perhaps because such small pictures disappeared. A portrait of Melanchthon made by Holbein around 1530 retains its lid. The portable art was however common during the early Renaissance, including the folding religious triptychs.
The sitter is known: his name was Valerio Belli. He was a medalist and engraver of gems. His face is recognizable, with his Roman nose and broad eyebrows. In his left profile, hair and beard are similar as in a medal self-portrait inscribed Valerius Bellus Vicentinus.
The portrait on wood remained in Vicenza in the families of the medalist and of his executor until 1706. In 1643, the owner indicated a signature F.R. (fecit Raphael) which later disappeared but certainly cannot be a confusion with another painting in that inventory.
The authenticity of that signature by Raphael was not questioned at that time, 97 years after the death of Belli. This family tradition is also supported by an old handwritten inscription on the reverse of the wood indicating Fatto dell'ano 1517 in Rom(.) / Rafael Urbinate. No document proves that Raffaello Sanzio ever met Valerio Belli.
This portrait is considered by experts as an authentic work by Raphael of Urbino while being the only profile portrait by the master. It is estimated $ 2M. I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Traces of raw wood indicate that this precious work had once a lid, for being used as a portable medallion. This structure is now quite rare, perhaps because such small pictures disappeared. A portrait of Melanchthon made by Holbein around 1530 retains its lid. The portable art was however common during the early Renaissance, including the folding religious triptychs.
The sitter is known: his name was Valerio Belli. He was a medalist and engraver of gems. His face is recognizable, with his Roman nose and broad eyebrows. In his left profile, hair and beard are similar as in a medal self-portrait inscribed Valerius Bellus Vicentinus.
The portrait on wood remained in Vicenza in the families of the medalist and of his executor until 1706. In 1643, the owner indicated a signature F.R. (fecit Raphael) which later disappeared but certainly cannot be a confusion with another painting in that inventory.
The authenticity of that signature by Raphael was not questioned at that time, 97 years after the death of Belli. This family tradition is also supported by an old handwritten inscription on the reverse of the wood indicating Fatto dell'ano 1517 in Rom(.) / Rafael Urbinate. No document proves that Raffaello Sanzio ever met Valerio Belli.
This portrait is considered by experts as an authentic work by Raphael of Urbino while being the only profile portrait by the master. It is estimated $ 2M. I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1518 Portrait of Lorenzo II de' Medici by Raphael
2007 SOLD for £ 18.5M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
Since 1513 the head of the Medici family has become pope under the name of Leo X. Like most popes of this period, he keenly supports his family. After the death of his brother Giuliano in 1516, the hopes of the Medici to preserve the dynasty are transferred to their 24-year-old nephew Lorenzo II. The young prince is named Duke of Urbino, with the constraint of having to take over that duchy from the Della Rovere family.
Lorenzo must therefore be married. The pope promotes a French alliance and the choice falls on Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, a cousin of King François I, in 1517. This marriage was political and the future newlyweds had obviously never met. Portraits will be exchanged during the preparation of this union.
The portrait of Lorenzo was entrusted at the beginning of 1518 to Raphael, a native of Urbino. The matter is urgent. The artist chooses the oil on canvas, which allows a faster execution than the wooden panel. The prince is seen in three quarter length, slightly turned to his right, the gaze directed towards the spectator. He is sumptuously dressed in brocade, velvet and fur. He holds in his hand a gold box supposedly decorated with a miniature portrait of his future wife.
This commission is of great political importance and there is no doubt that this painting is autograph by Raphael. The portrait of Lorenzo reached Paris in March in a convoy of gifts carried by 36 horses. The reciprocal portrait of Madeleine had arrived in Florence in the previous month. The marriage is celebrated on May 2 at the Château d'Amboise.
The original autograph painting, 97 x 78 cm, authenticated by modifications revealed by infrared photography, was sold for £ 18.5M including premium by Christie's on July 5, 2007, lot 91. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The glory of this prince was overrated. He had not won the war against the Della Rovere. He died in 1519 of syphilis, possibly contracted during his wedding trip. Madeleine had died a few days before him, two weeks after the birth of their only daughter who will become the French queen Catherine de Médicis.
Lorenzo must therefore be married. The pope promotes a French alliance and the choice falls on Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, a cousin of King François I, in 1517. This marriage was political and the future newlyweds had obviously never met. Portraits will be exchanged during the preparation of this union.
The portrait of Lorenzo was entrusted at the beginning of 1518 to Raphael, a native of Urbino. The matter is urgent. The artist chooses the oil on canvas, which allows a faster execution than the wooden panel. The prince is seen in three quarter length, slightly turned to his right, the gaze directed towards the spectator. He is sumptuously dressed in brocade, velvet and fur. He holds in his hand a gold box supposedly decorated with a miniature portrait of his future wife.
This commission is of great political importance and there is no doubt that this painting is autograph by Raphael. The portrait of Lorenzo reached Paris in March in a convoy of gifts carried by 36 horses. The reciprocal portrait of Madeleine had arrived in Florence in the previous month. The marriage is celebrated on May 2 at the Château d'Amboise.
The original autograph painting, 97 x 78 cm, authenticated by modifications revealed by infrared photography, was sold for £ 18.5M including premium by Christie's on July 5, 2007, lot 91. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The glory of this prince was overrated. He had not won the war against the Della Rovere. He died in 1519 of syphilis, possibly contracted during his wedding trip. Madeleine had died a few days before him, two weeks after the birth of their only daughter who will become the French queen Catherine de Médicis.
ca 1520 Portrait of Sultan Suleyman by a follower of Bellini
2019 SOLD for £ 5.3M including premium by Sotheby's
#AuctionUpdate Royal Flush: This rare Venetian portrait of Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Great was met with determined bidding, as three bidders pushed the price to £5,323,500 - 18 x its estimate! #SothebysMiddleEast pic.twitter.com/dyjutAPGnJ
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) May 1, 2019
