Botticelli's $40M 'Man of Sorrows' to Lead Sotheby's Masters Week

Sotheby's will auction Sandro Botticelli's 'Man of Sorrows' (L'Uomo dei dolori) in New York in January 2022, with a pre-sale estimate of $40 million. The painting, dating from the late 15th or early 16th century, reflects the influence of Girolamo Savonarola and was previously owned by a British opera singer before being sold by her niece in 1963. It remained in a private collection until a 2009 retrospective at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. The work has secured a financial guarantee and will tour London, Los Angeles, Dubai, and New York before the auction. It is the highlight of Sotheby's Masters Week, which also includes Jean-Michel Basquiat's 'Donut Revenge.' This follows a record $92.2 million sale of Botticelli's 'Young Man Holding a Roundel' in January 2021, the highest for an Old Masters work at auction.