Recent technical analysis by Sotheby’s in-house research team has revealed an earlier composition hidden beneath the painting, unseen until now. When turning the infrared image one hundred eighty degrees, elements of an unrelated underdrawing can be seen, outlines of which, have been interpreted by Sotheby’s specialists as the early stages of the figures of the Christ Child and the Madonna, further suggesting that the panel was originally prepared for an entirely different image.  Mother and Child appear close to the upper edge of the composition and are pressed cheek to cheek in an endearing composition, derived from the venerable image of the Virgin Eleousa (of “tenderness”), a type that was common in the Greek tradition and adapted by many later Italian painters of the Renaissance. The head of the Christ Child, with his upward gaze, is supported by the left hand of the Madonna, and the thick folds of her mantle are visible at her shoulder near the right of the composition. This particular compositional pose is found in a number of paintings by Botticelli and his workshop, indicating that the earlier idea for a painting of the Madonna, a mainstay of Botticelli’s production, was replaced with what would be a virtually unique and inspired invention by the master. It has been suggested that the artist’s abandonment of the original image was due in part of the knot in the wooden panel, as it would have fallen right between the faces of the Madonna and Christ Child.  Infrared imaging also reveals a number of changes he made as he worked through the composition, including adjustment in the placement of a few of the thorns on his temple, an alteration to the position of Christ’s eyebrows, a slight shift in the outline of his chin, and a lowering of Christ’s wound at his side. The distinct changes observable in the rendering of Christ’s hands further underscore Botticelli’s authorship, particularly in the refined contours of the fingers as well as their placement in space. 

The Man of Sorrows comes to auction following Sotheby’s record-breaking sale of Botticelli’s Young Man Holding a Roundel in January 2021, which realized $92.2 million -- making it one of the most valuable portraits of any era ever sold, one of the most valuable Old Master Paintings ever sold at auction, and the most valuable work ever sold in a Sotheby’s Old Masters auction. Despite the landmark sale last year, works by Botticelli – from any period – remain exceedingly rare at auction. His late works, in particular, very seldom appear on the market, with only three other works from this period (post 1492) known to be in private hands. A full press release is available here.

For the first time in the context of an Old Master sale, Sotheby’s presents a unique addition to the sale by offering an Egyptian Limestone Figure of a Man from circa 2440-2355 B.C. to create a thought-provoking dialogue between figurative art across millennia (est. $ 3/5 million). The figure itself represents an important early depiction of man in motion, an iconography that remains a central influence to later periods of Western art. 

The figure was scientifically excavated from the Great Western Cemetery at Giza in a tomb which belonged to a man named Weri and his wife Meti. The tomb, and subsequently the figure, date to Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty, probably during the reign of Niuserra circa 2432-2421 B.C. Beginning in 1902, a team led by the great American archeologist, George A. Reisner, working on the behalf of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Harvard University, discovered the present statue in 1913 at the foot of the Pyramids.

In 1921, the sculpture was awarded to the Museum of Fine Arts by the Egyptian Government Antiquities Service via division of funds, which allowed foreign expeditions to retain and export some of the material they discovered in the course of their work. In 1978, it sold at auction for $280,000, then the highest price ever achieved at auction for an ancient sculpture. From 1996 - 2021, the current owner placed the work on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it was exhibited in the Old Kingdom gallery.