23/11/2001

On the 20th of November the auction house Finarte in Milan made a new record for a painting sold in Italy: when Paolo Uccello’s Saint Monaca with two children went for $ 1.39 million (€ 1.58 million) – including buyer’s commission of 16%. The 79 x 35 cm tempera on panel sold to a private Italian buyer, bidding on the phone, surpassing its unofficial pre-auction estimate of $ 1.13 million (€ 1.29 million). The previous record for a painting sold in Italy was at Semenzato’s Carlo de Carlo sale at La Limonaia, Piazza del Carmine in Florence in April, 2001 – when two altarpieces by Bartolomeo Bulgarini went for $ 1.24 million (€ 1.4 million) (including buyer’s premium). Coming from the collection of the Florentine Contini-Bonacossi family - which today comprises, of nearly 150 Renaissance artworks including paintings by Sassetta, Tintoretto, Berninini and della Robbia - the Finarte Uccello was the cause of a long dispute between the owners and the Italian State as to its future succession. It is the first time in 50 years that a work by Uccello has appeared on the market. The auction house stated before the sale that the work cannot be exported outside of Italy. (Andrew Moore)