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szdaily -> Kaleidoscope -> 
Tiny Leonardo da Vinci sketch fetches $12m
    2021-07-12  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

A TINY sketch of a bear by Leonardo da Vinci sold for over US$12 million Thursday, setting a new auction record for a drawing by the renaissance artist.

Measuring less than 8 square inches (0.74 square meters), the item is one of the only eight Leonardo drawings left in private hands, according Christie’s, the auction house behind the sale.

The sketch was made on pale pink-beige paper using silverpoint, a technique — taught to Leonardo by his master, Andrea del Verrocchio — that involves marking chemically treated paper with silver rods or wire.

The item has changed hands several times over the centuries — in fact, it was once sold by Christie’s for just £2.50 (about US$430 in today’s money) in 1860. Titled “Head of a Bear,” the drawing has since been displayed at major institutions including the National Gallery in London, the Louvre Abu Dhabi and St. Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum.

The international head of Christie’s Old Master drawings department, Stijn Alsteens, described the work as “small but magnificent.”

The sketch broke the auction record for a Leonardo drawing — previously held by “Horse and Rider,” which sold for over US$11.2 million in 2001 — though the price tag fell well short of the current auction record for an Old Master drawing.

While Leonardo is best known for oil paintings like the “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper,” the renaissance master was also celebrated for his anatomical sketches. His drawing “The Vitruvian Man,” a mathematically precise rendering of a nude male, is hailed as one of his greatest accomplishments.

Leonardo was fascinated by the natural world and he completed many other animal sketches in his lifetime. His drawings of cats and dogs, as well as one of a bear walking, are among those on display at institutions including the British Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Other Leonardo sketches depicted religious figures and biblical scenes.

In 2016, a drawing titled “The Martyred Saint Sebastian” was set to fetch 15 million euros (US$16 million at the time) at auction, though the sale was blocked after the French Government declared the item to be a national treasure. (SD-Agencies)

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