Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is one of the most iconic artists of the Renaissance, known for masterpieces like The Birth of Venus and Primavera, which express the flourishing of humanist thought during the era. While most of his works are held in the top museums of the world, with the majority found at Florence's Uffizi Gallery, only one that is universally considered to be by Botticelli still remains in private hands: the portrait of Michele Marullo Tarcaniota and now it's for sale.
A Greek scholar, soldier and poet at the Medici court, Michele Marullo Tarcaniota lived in Florence and was involved in crusades in Crimea and Italy. He was known for his romantic poems, hymns and autobiographical epigrams. He died tragically in 1500 at the age of 41 when he drowned on horseback in a river en route to a battle. His wife, Alessandra Scala, who was the daughter of the chancellor of Florence, likely commissioned this work from Botticelli after his death.
However, more than 300 years passed before the work was formally recorded, according to Trinity Fine Art, who is conducting the sale at Frieze. The portrait was offered by an art dealer to Eugène de Beauharnais, the son of Empress Josephine de Bonaparte, but it was attributed to another artist. In the late 19th century, it was finally recognized as by the hand of Botticelli. It passed through another German collection before ending up in the ownership of Spanish politician Francisco de Asís Cambó Batll in 1929. The portrait has remained in the Cambo family for the past 90 years and has been on loan to Madrid's Prado Museum since 2004.
The painting will be on display during Frieze Masters Week in London's Regents Park from October 3-6, 2019 and is expected to fetch around $30 million, which would be triple Botticelli's highest record sale. Christie's sold Madonna and Child with Young Saint John the Baptist, which was nicknamed the Rockefeller Madonna because it was owned by the Rockefeller family from 1931-1981, for $10.8 million in 2013, though it has never been universally accepted as a Botticelli.
Since works by Botticelli so rarely appear at auction, even works not expertly attributed to the artist attract attention. Portrait of a Young Man, said to be in the style of Botticelli, sold for $7.5 million at auction earlier this summer for over 900 times its estimate of $5,000-7,000.
Following Leonardo da Vinci's record-breaking Salvator Mundi nearly two years ago, Old Masters continue to be in the spotlight.
“The Old Masters category has historically been a highly undervalued sector in the auction market, but over the past two years we can see that interest has steadily increased, which indicates a strong upward trend. Who knows? Old Masters may turn out to be the market's new gold mine,” says Pontus Silfverstolpe, co-founder of Barnebys.
For those wondering why this masterpiece will not be auctioned at one of the major houses, it is because it is under a temporary export license according to the Art Newspaper. Its sale must be approved by the Spanish government before it can officially leave the country. Despite these logistics, the next owner will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire the last privately work by the hand of Botticelli.
