Historic record for Botticelli: important portrait sold for $92 million at Sotheby's

Historic auction at Sotheby’s in New York: the Portrait of a Young Man with Medallion, a masterpiece attributed to Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi; Florence, 1445 - 1510) was sold for $92,184,000. Historic record for a Botticelli: so far one work by Botticelli had been sold at auction for $10.4 million in 2013 at Christie’s; it was the Madonna and Child with St. John.

The masterpiece that set a new record(which we had already discussed on these pages) is a rare painting, a masterpiece of Renaissance portraiture, owned by a major private collection: it depicts a young man, clad in an elegant black corset, posing in front of a window open to a clear sky, while holding in his hands a medallion depicting a saint: an original 14th-century work, attributed to the Sienese painter Bartolomeo Bulgarini (Siena, c. 1300 - 1378), which Botticelli is said to have included in the portrait and whose significance is still unclear. According to scholar Keith Christiansen, the inserted portrait would be an anachronism, but if it was Botticelli’s own idea, it would probably be related to the identity of the young nobleman depicted, which still remains unknown.

Painted in tempera on poplar panel, the masterpiece can be dated between 1470 and 1480 and has dimensions of 58.4 x 39.4 cm.

Image: Sandro Botticelli (attr.), Portrait of a Young Man with Medallion (c. 1470-1480; tempera on panel, 58.4 x 39.4 cm)

Historic record for Botticelli: important portrait sold for $92 million at Sotheby's

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