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‘The Man of Sorrows’, one of the last masterpieces left in the private hands of the famous Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli, goes to auction in the room Sotheby’s in New York on the 27th of this month with an estimated price of more than 40 million dollars, hiding a secret. “It is an extraordinarily realistic representation of Christ, symbolizing his suffering and death, but with an astonishing degree of humanity that is the hallmark of Botticelli’s portraits, and it shows the divinity of Christ with astonishing psychological depth. The painting highlights Botticelli’s intense spirituality, “he says. Christopher Apostle, Head of Antique Painting at Sotheby’s-New York. Just a year ago another work by the same artist, ‘Portrait of a young man holding a medallion’, sold for $ 92.2 million, a new record for the master.
The painting has survived in good condition general, allowing a fuller appreciation of Botticelli’s abilities as a painter. Although painted in his last stage, the characteristic elements used by Botticelli throughout his career are visible in the painting. The modeling of Christ’s flesh, for example, is constructed with delicate brushstrokes of brown and pink over soft cream tones. The three-dimensional cross on top of Christ’s head was made by incisions in the painted surface, a practice commonly employed by Botticelli to help design certain elements of his composition.
Thanks to the infrared image of Botticelli’s ‘Varón de los Dolores’, a series of changes that the artist made while working on the composition are revealed (known as regrets). Some adjustments are visible, for example, in the placement of some of the thorns on his temple, an alteration in the position of Christ’s eyebrows, a slight change in the contour of his chin and a reduction of Christ’s wound on his side stand. The various observable changes in the interpretation of Christ’s hands further underscore Botticelli’s authorship, particularly in the refined contours of the fingers, as well as their location in space. In addition to the remarkable change in the foreshortening of Christ’s left thumb, another of his fingers on that same hand was originally conceived as visible outside the open wound, an idea that Botticelli eventually changed in his final conception.
The same infrared image also shows elements of a partial underlying drawing and unrelated, confirming that the panel was originally prepared for a completely different image. Although difficult to distinguish in a vertical position, when rotating the infrared image, the outlines of what appear to be the early stages of the figures of Madonna and Child they become more visible. They appear near the top edge of the composition and appear to be glued cheek to cheek in an endearing composition. The Child’s head, looking up, is supported by the Virgin’s left hand, and the thick folds of her mantle are visible on her shoulder near the right side of the composition. This compositional pose is found in various paintings by Botticelli and his workshop, indicating that the earlier idea for a painting of the Virgin, a mainstay of Botticelli’s production, was superseded by what would be a virtually unique and inspired invention. teacher.
The reverse of the panel shows what appears to be an old and yet unidentified inventory number (355), painted in red in the upper left. Also visible near the center of the top edge is a wax seal that may indicate the provenance of the painting in Rome, possibly where it was acquired by the first registered owners, the Sartoris, as they resided in the Eternal City for many years. ‘El Cristo de los Dolores’ was part of the collection of politician Edward John Sartoris (1814-1888) and his wife, Adelaide Kemble Sartoris (1815-1879), a famous opera singer.
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