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Auctioned nude drawing at Christie's Paris auction house
Photo: Michelangelo / Emmanuel Dunnand / AFP
A nude drawing by Michelangelo has been auctioned in Paris for a record 23.2 million euros.
According to the auction house Christie's, this is the most expensive work by the Italian Renaissance painter to date, as well as the most expensive drawing that has ever been auctioned in Europe.
The work »A Naked Young Man (after Masaccio) Surrounded by Two Other Figures« is said to be his first known nude study, which the young Michelangelo (1475-1564) made in Florence at the end of the 15th century.
It is one of the few works by Michelangelo that is still in private ownership.
The pen drawing, the size of an A4 format, was only attributed to Michelangelo in 2019.
The estimated value of the drawing, which was auctioned on Wednesday, was 30 million euros.
The work is partly inspired by a fresco by the painter Masaccio (1401-1428) in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence.
It is his first known nude drawing by the Renaissance artist.
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Photo: Michelangelo / Christie's images limited / dpa
It shows a muscular, slightly stooped man who folds his arms and is cold, as well as two other people in the background.
Michelangelo is said to have made the work around 1490, when he was about 15 years old.
The work was initially attributed to his students and was last sold in 1907.
The »Süddeutsche Zeitung« emphasized in its Wednesday edition that the history of the paper's origins was by no means so well documented that further questions were unnecessary: »It can only be verified as far back as the 18th century and also has the flaw that generations of earlier art connoisseurs who also understood something about it, didn't pay much attention to the sheet".
In 2019, the work was declared a »national treasure« in France, meaning it was not allowed to leave the country for 30 months.
During this time, the state or the French museums could have bought the work.
When this did not happen, the auction house exhibited the work in Hong Kong and New York, eventually auctioning it off in Paris.
The identity of the buyer was initially unknown.
Just over a week ago, the auction of a portrait of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe by pop artist Andy Warhol caused a sensation in New York.
With a final bid of $195 million (185 million euros), »Shot Sage Blue Marilyn« became the most expensive painting of the 20th century sold at auction.
feb/dpa/AFP/Reuters