• March 29, 2024

Retiree Takes Some Old Drawings to Sell But Didn’t Expect This

a pile of old documents in the archive
a pile of old documents in the archive

A retired doctor tried to make a few dollars on some old drawings that his father had collected.   Thaddée Prate, the director of old master pictures at the Tajan auction house in Paris scanned through them hoping to find something worth the time and money to sell.  He found one that he thought fit the bill but wanted a second opinion, so he took them to Patrick de Bayser, an expert in “old master drawings.  Bayser agreed that the one was worth taking a closer look at.  It was a picture of St. Sebastian tied to a tree with a couple of scientific type sketches on the back.

The two then decided they needed an additional opinion and they went to see Carmen C bambach, who said it was an open and shut case and that the sketches were from none other than Leonardo da Vinci.

ldv

Image result for da vinci picture of St Sebastian found'

The experts put an initial price of 16 million on the drawing but since material from the 1500s is so rare, especially from da Vinci, at an auction there is no telling how much it could bring.  The Louve is considering making an offer on it or it could end up in an auction.  Imagine living all that time with a priceless drawing in your house.

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