michelangelo foot sketch sells for $27.2 million
via Hypebeast:
The work itself is a rare red chalk study for the Libyan Sibyl, one of the monumental figures adorning the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican. Experts identified the sketch as a preparatory drawing created around 1511–1512. It depicts the figure’s right foot with the heel raised and toes pressed down—a specific anatomical detail necessary for the Sibyl’s twisting, weight-bearing pose.
The $27.2 million USD sale price surpasses the previous auction record for a Michelangelo work—a nude study sold in Paris in 2022 for $24.3 million. “In the 23-plus years I have been in the industry, I have been privileged to see many wonderful Old Masters moments, but today topped them all,” said Andrew Fletcher, Christie’s Global Head of Old Masters. With most of Michelangelo’s 600 surviving sketches held in museums, this sale represented perhaps the last opportunity for a private collector to own a direct link to the Sistine Chapel.
