On the evening of October 22, Dorotheum celebrated renowned artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Artemisia Gentileschi, Rosalba Carriera, and Dirck van Baburen during its Classic Week, showcasing a selection of Old Master paintings.
With the auction's highest estimate (€600,000–800,000), a pair of oil-on-wood paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci, known as Perugino, came up for sale. They depict Mary and Christ crowned with thorns against a dark background; both wear red tunics, with Mary additionally cloaked in green.
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Measuring just 33.5 x 27.5 cm each, the paintings originally formed a diptych, serving as a portable home altar. Perugino likely created the works in the 1490s during a stay in Venice. However, his primary centres of activity were Perugia and Florence, where he operated workshops, counting the great Raphael among his most renowned pupils.
A telephone bidder purchased the pair for €842,800 (about $912,720 including buyer's premium), setting a new world record for Perugino.
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Other outstanding results were achieved for Artemisia Gentileschi's early work Madonna and Child, which sold for €565,000 (about $611,820 including buyer's premium; estimated at €400,000–600,000), as well as for Rubens' rare chalk drawing on the same theme, which fetched €156,000 (about $168,920 including buyer's premium; estimated at €120,000–150,000).
