Sotheby’s staged a series of Old Master sales in New York last week that brought an anticipated $109 million (£82 million), providing a shot in the arm for the market.
Its main sale brought $91 million (£68 million), compared to London’s more pedestrian £19 million equivalent sale in December.
The star lot, a portrait of a thorn-crowned Christ by Botticelli dating from around 1500, was bought by the vendor for £10,000 in the 1960s when it was thought to be a joint effort by Botticelli and his workshop.
But The Man of Sorrows has since been given “fully autographed” status by scholars – in other words, a work by Botticelli alone.
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