Vermeer's 'Saint Praxedis' to be auctioned at Christie's London for €7 million

The painting 'Saint Praxedis', attributed to Johannes Vermeer and exhibited at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome, will be auctioned at Christie's London on July 8. The work, long disputed in attribution, is a copy of a painting by Florentine artist Felice Ficherelli. If authenticated by the Rijksmuseum and the University of Amsterdam, it could be Vermeer's earliest known work, created after his conversion to Catholicism. However, its provenance remains unclear. Currently, historiography lists it among the few uncertain attributions alongside 34 confirmed Vermeer works. It is one of the very few in private hands, part of the collection of the late patron Barbara Piasecka Johnson. The estimated price of €7.2–9.6 million is considered low for such a rare piece on the market.