Auction of an unpublished work by Michelangelo, estimated at over 30 million dollars

Auction house Christie's revealed on Thursday an unpublished drawing by Michelangelo, the first to show a naked body in the artist's record, for an estimated value of 30 million euros (about 33 million dollars), before it was put on sale. auction on May 18th. "There are still fewer than ten drawings by Michelangelo in private possession," said Eileen Real, director of Christie's Ancient Painting Department, of the work done by this artist, considered one of the most important masters of the Italian Renaissance (1475-1564. ) during his youth. This work dates back to the end of the fifteenth century, has always been "out of the eye of specialists" and has remained in "good conservation", says the auction house. The brush and brown ink drawing was put on sale in 1907 at the Maison Droux under the "Ecole de Michelangelo", until in 2019 it was attributed to the painter in an inventory made for a French private collection. The work was classified in September 2019 as a "national treasure" for French heritage, thus preventing its exodus from France for thirty months and giving the French state and its museums the opportunity to repurchase it. Although no bids were submitted during this period, the design will be exhibited in Hong Kong and then in New York with the aim of attracting the interest of domestic and foreign collectors until the auction date. The drawing will be shown to art lovers in Paris from 13 May. This scale drawing on A4 paper appears to have been inspired by a fresco by Masaccio ("The Baptism of the Novices") and reflects Michelangelo's interest in showing the human body.