Raphael Vatican Sketch Could Sell For £16m At Christie's Auction

by amyellensoden | October 21, 2009 at 10:05 am

208 views | 10 Recommendations | 0 comments

A Raphael sketch from 1508, titled "Head of a Muse," will be featured at Christie's December auction for an estimated £16 million. This is the first time in 150 years that the sketch will be up for auction.

Christie's unveiled the sketch at St. James' showroom in London yesterday. This marks the first time the sketch has been visible to the public since it was displayed in 1983 at the British Museum.

‘Head of a Muse’, which was a study for the artist’s acclaimed fresco Parnassus, may fetch between £12 million and £16.2 million at the auction house’s Old Masters and 19th Century Art Evening Sale in December.

If sold for the latter value, the sketch will double the world record set by an Old Master drawing sold at auction. The existing £8.1 million record is shared by ‘The Risen Christ’ by Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Horse and Rider’.

Christie's predicts the sale value for "Head of a Muse" based on its original purpose as a working draft study for Raphael's Vatican fresco.

This was one of four fresco's Raphael was commissioned to paint between 1508 and 1511. The fresco series is considered by some to be Raphael's greatest work.