Raphael's Portrait of Lorenzo de' Medici II | Renaissance Prince

Raphael's rendering of Lorenzo de' Medici II of 1518 depicts Lorenzo II dressed in sumptuous garb with a red-and-gold cloak with a fur-lined collar. Holding a sword and perhaps a coin or a miniature portrait of his intended, Lorenzo de' Medici is dressed beneath the cloak in a gold bodice with a silver-and-gold skirt sashed with a blue cord and sports a dark hat.

The Portrait of Lorenzo de' Medici II has been hidden away since 1968 when it was bought for $325 by a New York art dealer, Ira Spanierman, who acquired it at that price because its attribution was uncertain. The picture is of major historical significance, and most works of such importance are either in museum collections or privately owned.

The final auction price for the Medici portrait was set at $37 million, a new auction record for an Old Master work, and the painting was sold to a private buyer who chose to remain anonymous. So, once again, this fine Old Master work will probably disappear from the public eye, a sad loss to the world.

Brenda Harness, Art Historian