Pietro Lorenzetti’s Saint Sylvester and Saint Helena sold at a buyer’s premium inclusive €4.7m via Cabinet Turquin at Tajan on December 13.
The two panels by Pietro Lorenzetti, active in Siena from 1306-45, depict Saint Sylvester and Saint Helena and were offered at auction at Tajan in Paris on December 13.
Saint Sylvester sold for a hammer price of €2.4m (against an estimate of €1.5-2m) and Saint Helena made €1.3m (est: €400,000-600,000). Including buyer’s premium the total price paid was €4.7m.
Tajan said that both panels were bought by a major American collector of contemporary art who is also a regular client of the auction house.
The panels were probably part of a large altarpiece made of five or seven panels, which were likely to have been cut apart, having fallen out of fashion in the 18th century.
Pietro Lorenzetti’s Saint Sylvester (alongside Saint Helena) sold at a buyer’s premium inclusive €4.7m via Cabinet Turquin at Tajan on December 13.
The tempera and gold leaf on wood panels were acquired in Paris in 1860 and stayed within the family. Recently Old Master specialist Cabinet Turquin rediscovered them in the family’s collection and consigned them to Tajan.
Pietro Lorenzetti’s Saint Helena (alongside Saint Sylvester) sold at a buyer’s premium inclusive €4.7m via Cabinet Turquin at Tajan on December 13.
Only around 30 works by Pietro Lorenzetti are known worldwide. Thaddée Prate, director of the Old Master paintings department at Tajan, said: “We are delighted that these two paintings will be part of the collection of a Tajan client who is known for his taste in contemporary art.”
Eric Turquin of Old Master specialist Cabinet Turquin, added that the purchase by a Contemporary art collector shows “just how much traditional art can appeal to contemporary art collectors”.
