AP News, May 21st, 2007
A rare portrait by Renaissance master Raphael that shows a Florentine ruler from the famed Medici family will be offered at a public auction this summer, Christie's said Monday.
Christie's expects the portrait to fetch a record $19.7 million to $29.5 million. The record price for a Raphael at public auction is $10.4 million for a drawing in black crayon, sold in 1996.
The portrait up for sale is of Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino and ruler of Florence from 1513 to 1519.
It shows Medici turning slightly left against a rich forest green background. The duke is dressed in an ornate gold-embroidered costume with red puffy sleeves and gray fur lining around the neck. In his right hand, Medici holds what is probably a portrait miniature showing his future wife.
The canvas measures 38 inches by 31 inches and dates to 1518.
The renowned Medici family ruled Florence from the 14th to 17th centuries and family members became patrons of many of the greatest Italian Renaissance artists, such as Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
Medici's uncle, Pope Leo X, arranged for him to marry a cousin of King Francois I of France. As neither Medici nor his fiancee had seen each other, an exchange of their portraits was arranged.
"It's designed to impress," said Paul Raison, director of the Old Master paintings at Christie's. "That was the goal: to show the power, the importance and good looks of the sitter."
The whereabouts of the portrait of Medici's wife are unknown.
New York art dealer Ira Spanierman bought the piece at auction for an unknown amount in 1968, when the painting's origins remained in dispute. Raphael was definitively credited as the artist in 1971.
Christie's is set to auction the Medici portrait July 5 in London.
