(ANSA) - NEW YORK, JAN 27 - After a battle of seven minutes, Sandro Botticelli's "Christ of Sorrows" was sold by Sotheby's for 45.4 million dollars, including rights.
The panel painting, which had a guarantee of 40 million dollars, was sold with a 'surprise': the examination of the painting led to discover under the image of Jesus with the symbols of the passion that of a Madonna and Child. This is the second Botticelli which is sold at auction in one year: last January at Sotheby's an anonymous Asian collector was awarded a "Portrait of a Gentleman with Tondo" for over 92 million dollars. "The Man of Sorrows" had been in private hands since the 19th century when it was recorded in the collection of Adelaide KembleSartoris, a celebrated English opera singer. Adelaide's great-great-granddaughter, Lady Cunynghame, sold it at auction in 1963 for a loss of ten thousand pounds.remained in the collections of the current owners who lent it only once, for the Botticelli exhibition in Frankfurt in 2009-2010.
After today's sale, the painting is booked for a Botticelli exhibition in Minneapolis along with other works by the artist from the Uffizi.
(HANDLE).