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New York: a Botticelli auctioned for $ 92 million

Young man holding a locket “, of about 540 years old, it is only one of three portraits painted by Botticelli that remain in private hands and despite its more than five centuries of life it is in very good condition.

The piece, sold in a week of auctions that Sotheby’s dedicated to the great masters of art history, reached the exorbitant figure after just over 4 minutes of battle between several buyers bidding by phone through representatives of the company present in the offices of New Yorkand London.

From the starting price of $ 70 million, it took less than 60 seconds to reach the 80 million hammer price, offered by a telephone buyer from the London headquarters, a figure that rose to $ 92,184,000 after adding fees. and taxes.

Although Botticelli was a very famous artist who painted various members of the Medici family, the great patrons of Florence’s Renaissance, very few of his portraits survived the passage of time, and most of them are on display in museums.

Also, this particular specimen does not hit the market very often, and in fact it is only the fourth time it has been sold in the last 200 years.

“The last time it was released on the market was in 1982. Before that it was in a private collection from the beginning of the 20th century, and before that in another from the late 18th century, we think. So you don’t see very often.” Christopher Apostle, the New York director of Sotheby’s Grand Masters department, told Efe.

The piece sold for about £ 810,000 in 1982 (about $ 1 million at today’s exchange rate), but this time experts valued it before the auction at $ 80 million when compared to other masterpieces that have hit the market. , like those of Francis Bacon and Picasso.

“In my 30-year professional career, I have never had a Botticelli that comes close to the quality, the condition, the beauty and the importance of it,” Apostle said.

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