Portrait of a Young Man holding a Roundel

Last updated
Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel
Botticelli - Portrait of a young man holding a medallion.jpg
Artist Sandro Botticelli
Yearc. 1480
MediumTempera on poplar wood
Movement Italian Renaissance
OwnerPrivate

The Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel (also known as Portrait of a Young Man holding a Trecento Medallion [1] ) is a painting attributed to Sandro Botticelli. Due to its style it has been estimated to have been painted around 1480. [2] The identity of the portrait's subject is unknown, but analysts suggest it could be someone from the Medici family, as Lorenzo de' Medici was one of Botticelli's main benefactors. [3]

Contents

Description of the painting

The painting, thought to have been completed c. 1480, is believed to represent the beauty ideals [4] of Renaissance Florentine high society. [5] The young man's tunic is of a simple, fine quality with a blue color very rare at the time. [6] The work was painted in tempera on poplar wood [7] with a width of 38.9  cm and a height of 58.7  cm. [1] The figure of the bearded saint in the trecento medallion [8] was added after the portrait was completed and is believed to be an original by Bartolomeo Bulgarini, also known as the "Ovile Master". [8] The medallion is very similar to other works by Bulgarini [9] with a presumption that it was originally trimmed from a rectangular trecento. [10] The young man is portrayed in front of a window frame in which the artist has fashioned a series of color planes. [8] The inner frame is a uniform grey color, and appears to have a bright blueish tone to the left with a darker grey one in the right so the colors seem to change from left to right. [8] One of the young man's fingers, supporting the medallion from below, rests on a bright grey strip at the bottom of the painting. The hand acts as a repoussoir that provides the illusion that the medallion is in another level within the painting. [8]

History and ownership

The first modern record of the painting was in 1938, when it was owned by Baron Newborough of Caernarvon. [1] At the time, the art dealer Frank Sabin [2] visited the Newborough estate and appraised the painting's value. [1] Lord Newborough was ignorant of the true value of the painting, so Sabin managed to buy the piece for a relatively low price. [1] Art historians assumed that the painting came into the possession of the Newborough family when the 1st Baron Newborough, Thomas Winn, lived in Florence, Italy between 1782 and 1791. [2] [1]

Sabin sold the portrait to the collector Sir Thomas Merton in 1941 for a five-figure sum. [2] During Merton's ownership the portrait was first described as a work by Botticelli. [1] The attribution to Botticelli was doubted later, as prominent monographs on Botticelli did not include the portrait as one of his. [9] Currently a majority of the art historians accept the attribution to Botticelli. [2] While the Merton family owned the portrait, it became the subject of a poster for a Royal Academy of Arts Exhibition of Italian Art in 1960. [11] In 1982, Merton's descendants sold the painting for £ 810,000 at an auction at Christie's. [2]

After Sheldon Solow bought the piece in 1982, [12] [2] the portrait was loaned to major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery in London, and the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, [3] where it was displayed in a Botticelli exhibition in 2009–2010. [2] In January 2021, the portrait was sold at an auction at Sotheby's New York for more than US$92.2 million [13] to a Russian-speaking collector. [14] The price for the painting was the highest paid for a Botticelli and the highest for an Old Master work since Leonardo Da Vinci's Salvator Mundi sold in 2017. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandro Botticelli</span> Italian Renaissance painter (1445–1510)

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli or simply Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelites who stimulated a reappraisal of his work. Since then, his paintings have been seen to represent the linear grace of late Italian Gothic and some Early Renaissance painting, even though they date from the latter half of the Italian Renaissance period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sotheby's</span> International auction house

Sotheby's is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintains a significant presence in the UK.

<i>Portrait of a Young Man</i> (Botticelli, London) Painting by Sandro Botticelli

Portrait of a Young Man is a tempera on panel painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli, c. 1483. It is housed in the National Gallery in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tondo (art)</span> Renaissance term for a circular work of art

A tondo is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture. The word derives from the Italian rotondo, "round." The term is usually not used in English for small round paintings, but only those over about 60 cm in diameter, thus excluding many round portrait miniatures – for sculpture the threshold is rather lower.

The decade of the 1480s in art involved some significant events.

<i>Portrait of a Young Man</i> (Botticelli, Washington) Painting by Sandro Botticelli

Portrait of a Young Man or Portrait of a Youth, a portrait attributed to Sandro Botticelli (1446–1510), is an example of Italian Renaissance painting. It was painted in the early or late 1480s with tempera on panel and is now housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The painting was attributed to Botticelli by art historian Bernard Berenson in 1922. Features of this piece include his interesting expression and elegant hand gesture, which some have interpreted as an early depiction of juvenile arthritis or Marfan syndrome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheldon Solow</span> American real estate developer (1928–2020)

Sheldon Henry Solow was an American real estate developer and art collector who lived and worked in New York City. In August 2020, he had a net worth of $4.4 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acquavella Galleries</span>

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bartolomeo Bulgarini</span> Italian 14th-century painter

Bartolomeo Bulgarini, also known as Bulgarino or Bologhini, was an Italian painter of the Trecento period in Siena both before and after the Black Death.

<i>Portrait of a Young Woman</i> (Botticelli, Frankfurt) Painting by Sandro Botticelli

Portrait of a Young Woman is a painting which is commonly believed to be by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, executed between 1480 and 1485. Others attribute authorship to Jacopo da Sellaio. The woman is shown in profile but with her bust turned in three-quarter view to reveal a cameo medallion she is wearing around her neck. The medallion is a copy in reverse of "Nero's Seal", a famous antique carnelian representing Apollo and Marsyas, which belonged to Lorenzo de' Medici.

<i>Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo the Elder</i> Painting by Sandro Botticelli

Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo the Elder, also known as Portrait of a Youth with a Medal, is a tempera painting by Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli. The painting features a young man displaying in triangled hands a medal stamped with the likeness of Cosimo de' Medici. The identity of the young man has been a long-enduring mystery. Completed in approximately 1475, it is on display in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence.

<i>Sleeping Girl</i> (Lichtenstein) Painting by Roy Lichtenstein

Sleeping Girl is a 1964 oil and Magna on canvas pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein. It held the record for the highest auction price for a Lichtenstein painting from May 2012 until May 2013.

John L. Marion is an American auctioneer and philanthropist. He served as the Chairman of Sotheby's from 1975 to 1994.

<i>Flesh and Spirit</i> (painting) Painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Flesh and Spirit is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat c. 1982–83. The multi-panel painting, which is one of the largest ever made by Basquiat, sold for $30.7 million at Sotheby's in May 2018.

<i>Hannibal</i> (1982 painting) 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Hannibal is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982. The artwork, which features his signature skull and crown motifs, was sold at Sotheby's for $13.1 million in October 2016.

<i>Warrior</i> (1982 painting) 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Warrior is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982. It is interpreted as "a semi-autobiographical work championing his creative vision as a black artist." In March 2021, the painting sold for $41.8 million at Christie's in Hong Kong, becoming the most expensive Western artwork sold at auction in Asia.

<i>In This Case</i> 1983 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

In This Case is a 1983 painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1983. The artwork, which depicts a skull, is among the most expensive paintings ever purchased. In May 2021, it sold for $93.1 million at Christie's New York, the second highest auction record by Basquiat.

<i>The Man of Sorrows</i> (Botticelli) Painting by Sandro Botticelli

The Man of Sorrows is a tempera and oil on panel painting of Jesus Christ by the Florentine artist Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), thought to have been painted sometime between 1500 and 1510.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stapleford, Richard (1987). "Botticelli's Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Trecento Medallion". The Burlington Magazine . 129 (1012): 428–436. ISSN   0007-6287. JSTOR   882920.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Thomas, Gina. "Mehr als 80 Millionen Dollar: Dieser Jüngling kann teuer werden". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). ISSN   0174-4909 . Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  3. 1 2 Brown, Mark (2020-09-24). "'True beauty for the ages': $80m Botticelli to appear at auction". The Guardian . Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  4. ↑ McGreevy, Nora. "One of the Last Privately Owned Botticelli Portraits Could Fetch $80 Million". Smithsonian Magazine . Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  5. ↑ "Rare Botticelli portrait could reach $100 million at auction". Reuters . 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  6. ↑ Garabedian, Maya. "Sandro Botticelli: A Closer Look at Young Man Holding a Roundel". Mutualart.com. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  7. ↑ Gropp, Rose-Maria. "Altmeister-Markt: Der Preis ist heiß". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN   0174-4909 . Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Stapleford, Richard (1987), p.428
  9. 1 2 Stapleford, Richard (1987), p.432
  10. ↑ Stapleford, Richard (1987), p.430
  11. ↑ Hartley, H.; Gabor, D. (1970). "Thomas Ralph Merton. 1888-1969". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society . 16: 434. doi: 10.1098/rsbm.1970.0017 .
  12. ↑ Kazakina, Katya (2020-09-24). "NYC Property Billionaire Selling Botticelli for $80 Million". Bloomberg . Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  13. ↑ "Botticelli portrait sells for record $92.1m at Sotheby's in New York". The Art Newspaper . Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  14. ↑ Crow, Kelly (28 January 2021). "Botticelli's 'Young Man' Portrait Sells for $92.2 Million". Wsj.com. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  15. ↑ Kazakina, Katya (2021-01-28). "A Botticelli Portrait Sells for $92 Million at Sotheby's Auction". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-02-17.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.