10/12/2001
by Alex Kearney

The recent rediscovery of the Botti Madonna by Andrea del Sarto (1486–1530) has raised the profile of the great Florentine master, albeit one largely unknown to the public. This may, however, change if talks between the current owner, an anonymous European collector, and Hollywood lead to an improbable outcome: a feature film based on the discovery. Granted, the Botti story is remarkable, but its primary audience is more likely to be the marketplace, not moviegoers. Original del Sartos very seldom appear on the market, and collectors will note how the Botti panel, untraced for over 350 years, turned up at a minor auction in the US in 1997 as a copy (oil on panel, 58 x 41 cm), selling for a mere few hundred dollars. They will also note the sharp eye of the collector, who correctly judged it to be an original. There is no word yet of whether the Botti Madonna, once owned by a member of the Medici Court, the Marchese Matteo Botti (c.1570-1621), will be sold. The painting is currently on display, until the 5^th of April 2002, at the Courtauld Institute Galleries, Somerset House, London, where it had previously hung in the 17^th century as part of the collection of King Charles I.

However, this is not the first del Sarto to materialise, as if from nowhere. On the 28^th of January 2000, an affirmed but damaged Madonna and Child (oil on panel, 85.1 x 62.2 cm) was sold to a group of private London dealers by Sotheby’s, New York for $ 1,000,300 (€ 1,125,360), against an estimate of $ 1,000,000–1,500,000 (€ 1,125,100-1,687,580). The work had been found in the attic of All Saint’s Church in West Newbury, Massachusetts in 1986, but was only authenticated by Sotheby’s experts some 13 years later. Nonetheless, a noted authority on del Sarto’s work, Harvard Professor John Shearman, believed it to be only partly by del Sarto and alleged that Sotheby’s had not publicly aired his assessment before the auction. While Sotheby’s stands by its handling of the sale, claiming that Shearman is in a critical minority, there is considerable pressure to find the master’s hand among the many works of followers and copyists.

Paintings by followers vary considerably in quality, but rarely in subject matter with nearly all of them showing members of the Holy Family. Between January 1999 and the present, five out of the 16 which appeared at major auctions failed to sell and only three exceeded their estimates. However, on the 25^th of May 1999 a ‘Circle of’ San Matteo, Apostolo (oil on panel, 98 x 79 cm) quadrupled its upper estimate to sell for $ 74,340 (€ 83,670) (estimate $ 13,770-18,360, € 15,490-20,660) at Christie’s, Rome. Despite paint loss and discoloured varnish, it still looked too lifeless to be an original, though the competing bidders may have thought otherwise. More recently a ‘Circle of’ Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the Infant St John the Baptist (oil on panel, 87.6 x 69.5 cm) put in a respectable performance at Sotheby’s, New York on the 5^th of October 2001, hammering for $ 42,500 (€ 47,830) against an estimate of $ 30,000-40,000 (€ 33,760-45,010). Earlier this year on the 26^th of January, a moody ‘Circle of’ Holy Family with the Infant St. John Baptist failed to sell at Christie’s, New York against a steep estimate of $ 40,000-60,000 (€ 45,010-67,520).

At the other end of the scale, a copy of the Madonna of the Harpies (oil on canvas, 138 x 104 cm) went for $ 7,150 (estimate $ 7,150-10,020, € 8,050-11,270) at Christie’s, South Kensington on the 18^th of February 1998. The original Madonna of the Harpies (1517, Florence, Uffizi) was particularly admired in the 16^th century, and inspired numerous copies. Over the last decade, Christie’s, South Kensington has done quite a sideline in these works, handling four out of the last seven to come on the British market, with prices ranging from between $ 1,570 (€ 1,780) and $ 4,290 (€ 4,850).

Original del Sarto drawings rarely appear at auction, but drawings by two followers will be offered at Sotheby’s, London on the 13^th of December. Look out for a black chalk male nude (c.1600, 32 x 12.4 cm) after a figure in the Scalzi cloister frescoes in Florence, with an estimate of $ 2,860-3,570 (€ 3,230-4,040). For those devoted to the Madonna of the Harpies, there is a copy in black chalk (36.1 x 13.8 cm) with an estimate of $ 1,140-1,710 (€ 1,290-1,940).