Artemisia Gentileschi breaks auction record at Christie's New York

A rare self-portrait by Artemisia Gentileschi sold for $5.687 million at Christie's New York on February 4, 2026, setting a new auction record for the Baroque artist. The painting, 'Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria,' more than doubled its pre-sale estimate of $2.5–3.5 million. It is one of only five known self-portraits by Gentileschi, three of which are in museum collections, and likely the earliest, dating to her Florentine period between 1613 and 1620. The previous record was set by Artcurial in Paris in 2019, when 'Lucrezia' sold for €4.8 million (about $5.2 million). Jennifer Wright, head of Christie's Old Masters department in New York, said the sale saw intense competition for Italian Baroque works. The overall Old Masters session achieved $54.1 million, the highest total for such a sale in New York since 2012. Other top lots included Canaletto's 'Venice, the Bucintoro at the Molo on Ascension Day' for $30.5 million, and Sandro Botticelli's 'Madonna and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist' for $5.2 million. A Michelangelo study for the foot of the Libyan Sibyl in the Sistine Chapel is expected to be offered on February 5, 2026, with an estimate of $1.5–2 million.