Renaissance altar sold in France for 445,000 euros

At an auction in Marseille, a French collector who wished to remain anonymous purchased for 445,000 euros a part of the altar, made by the Italian Renaissance painter Fra Angelico.

Damien Leclere, curator of the sale, explained that the altar was put up for auction for the second time. Starting from the nineteenth century, part of the altar was constantly owned by one French family and was sold at auction only once, in 2001. The original artwork was valued at 150,000 euros ($ 195,000).

Fra Angelico is an Italian monk who lived in the years 1400-1455. His works are in the most famous galleries in the world, such as the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Museum of Fine Arts in San Francisco. The work bought at the auction, measuring 27.5 cm by 38.5 cm, depicting the first Christians in the desert, is the central part of the altar, consisting of a total of six elements. At the end of the eighteenth, beginning of the nineteenth centuries the altar was demolished. Four parts of it are in various museums, the last part is missing.

Anna Sidorova