As we know the traditional Sotheby's auction dedicated to the "Old Masters" presented an exceptional selection of artworks. But lately, the change from the title “old masters’ to the "Masters painting" was a wise decision, as it stirred more attention from the young collectors. The result? At the London office, telephones never stopped ringing.
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During the morning session focused on drawings, a record was reached for a preparatory drawing by Andrea Mantegna titled "The triumph of Alexandria". The last surviving preparatory study of the artist's famous series of nine monumental paintings was sold to an anonymous telephone bidder for a record of 11.7 million dollars, an exceptional price compared to the weird estimate of over 12 million dollars. Indeed, the drawing, which depicts the triumphal procession of Julius Caesar and his army through Rome, was recently included in the exhibition of the National Gallery in London "Mantegna and Bellini" after being discovered and purchased as an unattributed work for less than a thousand dollars from a small German auction house.
