LONDON, April 8 — Christie’s is hoping to make headlines when a rare drawing by Michelangelo goes under the hammer in May. It has long been attributed to his pupils, rather than to the Renaissance master himself, and could soon fetch tens of millions of euros.
Michelangelo sketched A nude young man (after Masaccio) surrounded by two figures during his youth in Florence at the end of the 15th century. This is probably his first known nude study. The central figure in this drawing is one of the figures from the Baptism of the Neophytes, one of the famous frescoes painted by Masaccio on the walls of the Brancacci Chapel in the Florentine church of Santa Maria del Carmine.
The Renaissance artist used two brown inks with different tones to render Masaccio’s figure of more muscular, robust and monumental stature. It is somewhat reminiscent of his David in marble housed in the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, or his two Slaves that art lovers can admire at the Paris Louvre.
A nude young man (after Masaccio) surrounded by two figures comes from a private French collection. It is one of the few sketches by Michelangelo still in private hands. It was recognised in 2019 as being by the artist’s hand by Furio Rinaldi, a former Christie’s drawing specialist and current curator of drawings and prints at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. This attribution is supported by Paul Joannides, author of the complete catalogues of Michelangelo’s drawings.
A new sales record for Michelangelo?
For Stijn Alsteens, international head of Old Masters drawings at Christie’s, this drawing will not fail to attract the interest of collectors. “Not since the discovery in 2001 of a drawing by Michelangelo at Castle Howard, now at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, has a previously unknown drawing of greater beauty and importance by one of the major figures in art history re-emerged at auction,” the expert said in a statement.
This large sheet, in a good state of preservation, will go under the hammer on May 18 in Paris during the Old Masters and 19th century art sale (“Maîtres anciens et du XIXe siècle”). This is the second time it has been offered for sale. The drawing was to be auctioned in 2019, but the French government classed it as a National Treasure and prohibited its export for a 30-month period. This has now been lifted, and an export license has been granted.
Christie’s now estimates that it could fetch around €30 million. This would set a new record for Michelangelo. The current record holder is a rare nude male study that went under the hammer for over £8 million (RM43 million) in 2000 in London. Prior to its sale on May 18, A nude young man (after Masaccio) surrounded by two figures is scheduled to be exhibited in Hong Kong and New York. — ETX Studio
