09/11/2001

A painting by the 16th century Italian painter Andrea del Sarto has been rediscovered 350 years after it disappeared. Entitled The Botti Madonna and dating from circa 1530, the painting is named after one of its owners, the Marchese Botti a member of the Medici court. The painting turned up in an unknown US auction in 1997, attributed to del Sarto and sold for a few hundred dollars. How it got into the hands of the present owner, an anonymous European collector, is unknown. The Botti Madonna will go on display at the Courtauld Institute Gallery, Somerset House in central London from the 13th of November to the 5th of April 2002. It has not been on display in Somerset House (which was one of the royal residence of King Charles the 1st) since 1649. Workshop versions or later copies of the same work exist in the Royal Collection at Hampton Court and Alnwick Castle both in Britain and at the Allen Memorial Art Museum in Oberlin in the U.S. According to the Art Newspaper the lawyer representing the owner stated “There are tentative plans for a Hollywood feature film based on the Botti Madonna story.” (Andrew Moore)