Credit: Cindy Ord / Getty Images
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Mari Rodríguez Ichaso has been a contributor to Vanidades magazine for several decades.
Specialist in fashion, travel, gastronomy, art, architecture and entertainment.
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Style columnist for CNN en Español.
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(CNN Spanish) -
The painting of a beautiful and rich young man, painted between 1470 and 1480 by the extraordinary Sandro Botticelli, one of the great stars of the Renaissance, is the gossip and talk of the moment in the international art world.
A Botticelli at auction?
Something wonderful and very rare, which caused a whole revolution when Sotheby's announced the sale of "Young Man Holding a Medallion" at the January 2021 auctions.
And immediately the rumors and gossip began (in the art world gossip and intrigue abound), and calculators came out to project possible amounts in dollars, pounds, and euros.
Because all the museums in the world, in addition to the great collectors, are going to want to buy it.
An auction war is already breaking out and the Botticelli is estimated to fetch at least $ 80 million.
The most curious thing is that the current owner of the painting, an American millionaire from New York, paid in 1982 the equivalent of what would be today just over US $ 1 million.
LOOK: A rare Botticelli painting could break several records when auctioned
All this revolution also happens because there are very few Botticelli paintings in the world, Sotheby's estimates that there are a dozen, and the vast majority are in museums.
Such is the case with the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which has a wonderful group of his paintings, among them "Spring" and "The Birth of Venus."
And very few are in private collections, so this portrait is a true gem.
Credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images
The painting is in perfect condition and not only are its colors impeccably preserved after more than 5 centuries of being created, but the attitude of the young man and his irreverent gaze are absolutely modern.
As if you walked out of an elegant living room just a few minutes ago.
The painting has been temporarily exhibited in various international museums over the past 50 years, including The National Gallery in London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The question now is: what price will it reach in the auction?
Who will buy it?
We will keep you informed.
art auction
