On Thursday morning in New York, it finally took place: the sale of Sandro Botticelli's Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Medallion from around 1470.
The portrait painted by the Florentine Renaissance master was the highlight of the Sotheby’s auction and carried an estimated price of $80 million, making the painting one of the most important portraits ever presented at auction.
Bidding began at 10:35 a.m. local time with a starting price of $70 million. After just four minutes, a bidder won by phone, a collector from Asia. The price he had to pay? $92.9 million, including buyer premium.
The sale was a big win for Sotheby’s, as it was the highest price the prestigious auction house has ever fetched for an old master painting. It’s also the highest amount paid for a Botticelli painting and the second highest amount ever paid for a work by an Old Master, after Leonardo da Vinci's $450 million Salvator Mundi.
Pontus Silfverstolpe, co-founder of Barnebys, says: "Right now, demand is driving the market more than ever. Never before has there been so much capital available from so many people. I think this is just the beginning of the trend that we will see escalate in the future – that is, the return of old masters.”
