Sotheby's Old Master and 19th-century Paintings auction took place on Wednesday evening in London. Nearly thirty works were presented for sale, mostly within the six-figure estimate range.
Among these paintings was Portrait of a Mughal lady, seated in an interior, executed by the British painter of Italian descent Francesco Renaldi in 1787 during an extended stay in India. The estimated price for this portrait of the unidentified beauty ranged from £300,000 to £500,000. Four bidders battled over the course of five minutes for the work, which was offered on the auction market for the first time since 1969. The hammer ultimately fell at £650,000 (£825,500 including fees), establishing a new auction record for Renaldi.
See also: A Rediscovered Rembrandt Masterpiece Goes to Auction in London
Another artist's record was set with a wing of a multi-part altarpiece painted on both sides by Ambrosius Francken. The Flemish Mannerist portrayed the Last Supper at Emmaus on one side of the panel and St Aubert, Bishop of Cambrai-Arras and the patron saint of bakers, on the other - executed in grisaille. The recently rediscovered artwork sold for £152,400 (including fees), doubling its estimated value of £60,000-80,000. The artist's previous auction record dates back to 2016 when the painting Triumph of the Christ Child found a new owner for CHF 102,500 (including fees) at the Koller auction house in Zurich.
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The highlight of the auction, however, was Rembrandt's The Adoration of the Magi, a panel painting measuring just 24.5 x 18.5 cm, likely executed by the painter around 1628. After being considered a work from Rembrandt's circle for an extended period, intensive research was now able to attribute it to the master himself. The estimated price was, therefore, a substantial £10-15 million. It ultimately sold for £10,965,300 (including fees), marking not a new auction record for Rembrandt overall but specifically for his rare 'historical paintings.'
