Vasari Painting Hidden for 50 Years to Be Auctioned in Milan for Up to €250,000
An oil on panel by Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), titled Le Transport du Christ vers le tombeau, will be auctioned by Il Ponte in Milan on 28 October, with an estimated value of €200,000–250,000. This artwork, measuring 159 x 185 cm, was recently discovered in a Lombardy apartment after being privately owned for five decades. Public viewings are scheduled at Palazzo Crivelli from 23 to 25 October. Notably, this painting is not mentioned in Vasari's Ricordanze. Art historian Carlo Falciani believes its absence may be due to its rapid execution. Additionally, expert Vittorio Preda indicates it was acquired as a Vasari piece without any early provenance, depicting Christ's transport alongside Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and Mary Magdalene, notably excluding Saint John.
Key facts
- Giorgio Vasari's Le Transport du Christ vers le tombeau will be auctioned by Il Ponte on 28 October in Milan.
- The oil on panel measures 159 x 185 cm and is estimated at €200,000–250,000.
- The painting was rediscovered in the living room of an apartment in Lombardy and had been in private hands for 50 years.
- It will be exhibited publicly from 23 to 25 October at Palazzo Crivelli in Milan.
- The work is absent from Vasari's Ricordanze; Carlo Falciani suggests it was made in a very short time.
- Vittorio Preda of Pierre Bergé et associés is the expert for the sale.
- The composition echoes Raphael's Baglioni Altarpiece (1507) in the Galleria Borghese and omits Saint John.
- Vasari treated the same subject in a 1532 painting for Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici (Casa Vasari, Arezzo) and a c.1540 version (Museo d'Arte Sacra, San Gimignano).
Entities
Artists
- Giorgio Vasari
- Vittorio Preda
- Carlo Falciani
- Raphael
- Alessandro Farnese
- Ippolito de' Medici
Institutions
- Pierre Bergé et associés
- Millon
- Il Ponte
- Galerie Borghèse
- Casa Vasari
- Museo d'Arte Sacra
- Connaissance des Arts
Locations
- Milan
- Italy
- Lombardy
- Rome
- Arezzo
- San Gimignano
- Palazzo Crivelli
- Palazzo della Cancelleria