Some old master paintings and drawings for sale in London

1. Maestro Monte Oliveto
(active Sienna c. 1305-1335)
Virgin and Child
Temera and gold on panel - 33.8 x 24.1 cm
London Christie’s sale, 2 July 2024
Photo : Christie’s

See the image in its page

1/7/24 - Art market - London - Generally speaking, we only write about works offered for sale that we were able to see in person, and not just from photographs. Exceptionally, we will be writing here about the London sales without having been able to go there this year, and therefore only on the basis of catalogues available on the internet and digital images that do not necessarily accurately reflect the works. However, we find it difficult to ignore these sales, especially as this time London, whose sales had recently lost interest, seems to be offering more important works.

Thus, at Christie’s, in the evening sale of paintings, we can see a fine Viennese primitive, not far from Duccio, a Virgin and Child attributed to the Master of Monte Oliveto (ill. 1), a conventional name coming from this convent where there is - in addition to the cycle of frescoes by Sodoma and Luca Signorelli (see article - a Maestà given to the same anonymous artist. If the photo and the catalogue note are anything to go by, the work appears to be in very good condition and of a remarkable quality, which, in addition to its rarity, justifies its fairly high estimate. It would hardly be surprising if it were acquired by a museum.

2. Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian (1489/1490-1576)
Rest during the Flight into Egypt
Oil on canvas laid on panel - 46.2 x 62.9 cm
Christie’s London sale, 2 July 2024
Photo: Christie’s

See the image in its page

Still in the same sale, we should mention a painting by Titian (ill. 2) with a prestigious provenance. It was kept for a long time in the Habsburg collections in Vienna, before being looted by Napoleon’s troops and exhibited in the church of Sainte-Elisabeth in Paris. After the Hundred Days, it was returned to a private…