Sotheby’s auction house, based in New York, on 27 January 2022 sold an artwork by Sandro Botticelli, “The Man of Sorrows” for USD 45,419,700 in the “Master Paintings & Sculpture Part I” session.
The work, which was long considered to be a work by Botticelli’s workshop, was reattributed in 2009 on the occasion of “Botticelli: Likeness, Myth, Devotion,” an exhibition at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. The elevation of the work to signature status was further endorsed by Keith Christiansen, then chairman of European painting at the Metrpolitan Museum of Art, and Laurence Kanter, the head of European art at the Yale University Art Gallery.
Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, called Sandro Botticelli (Florence 1444/5 – 1510)
Property from a Family Collection
The Man of Sorrows
Inscribed along the neckline of Christ’s robe: [CHR]ISTO/ JESVNAZAR/ ENOR[…]
Tempera and oil on panel
Panel: 27 1/8 by 20 1/4 in.; 69 by 51.4 cm
Framed: 45 3/4 by 39 1/4 in.; 116.2 by 100 cm.
Lot sold for: 45.419.700 USD