Michelangelo drawing sold for $27.2M

A famous sketch by Michelangelo of the "right foot" of the Libyan Sibyl, a key figure in the "Sistine Chapel," sold for $27.2 million at Christie's auction in New York. This set a new record in the sale of the artist's works. The drawing, made in red chalk and dated 1511–1512, had been estimated at $1.5–2 million before the auction, but demand from private collectors turned out to be significantly higher. The sale attracted attention from both collectors and art historians, as few materials by Michelangelo from the period of the ceiling's completion have survived.

Context

Michelangelo Leonardo Buonarroti was a renowned Italian Renaissance artist, sculptor, and architect who created the famous Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican between 1508 and 1512.