A previously unknown drawing by Michaelangelo will be offered for sale by Christie’s that they expect to fetch 30 million euros ($32.77 million), the British auction house said on Tuesday (April 5).
The drawing, one of the few works of the Italian artist in private hands, was sold in 1907 in Paris and billed as a work of the school of Michaelangelo. It was largely forgotten until 2019, when a Christie’s specialist recognised it as one of Michaelangelo’s works.
The drawing is thought to be one of Michaelangelo’s early works, dating to the end of the 15th century. It reproduces a shivering man depicted in a fresco, “Baptism of the Neophytes”, by Masaccio. Two other people stand near him in the drawing.
The work had been designated a French national treasure, which barred it from being exported from the country for 30 months. But the French government recently removed the designation, allowing the drawing to be offered without restriction to collectors anywhere in the world, Christie’s said.
The drawing is scheduled to be exhibited in Hong Kong and New York before it is auctioned in Paris on May 18.
A drawing by Raphael, another Renaissance master and Michaelangelo contemporary, called “Head of an Apostle” fetched 29.7 million pounds ($48 million) when it was sold by Sotheby auctioneers in 2012.
