Virgin & Child Enthroned by Botticelli
The British government has placed an export ban on a rare masterpiece by Botticelli that sold last year for over £9 million.
On December 4, 2024, the Botticelli painting Virgin & Child Enthroned sold at Sotheby’s London during their Old Master & 19th Century evening sale for £9.96 million w/p. Although the identity of the Botticelli’s buyer has not been publicly disclosed, the fact that the British government has placed a temporary export ban on the painting indicates that the buyer is likely not British. According to the export ban, any British collector, dealer, gallery, or museum can purchase the work for themselves as long as they can put together £10.2 million. Only a handful of verified Botticelli paintings are on display at museums in the United Kingdom. Of the over two hundred paintings by the master still existing today, thirteen are held by museums in Britain. The National Gallery in London has eight, including Venus & Mars and The Mystical Nativity. On the other hand, the Uffizi Gallery alone has thirty Botticelli paintings, including many of his most famous works like Primavera, Adoration of the Magi, and The Birth of Venus.
Virgin & Child Enthroned spent most of its life in Italy before being purchased in 1904 by Baroness Wantage, a prominent British aristocrat and art collector. She kept it at her home at Lockinge House and then later at Betterton House, both in Berkshire. Sotheby’s specialists indicate that Botticelli likely created this particular Madonna relatively early in his artistic career, around the early 1470s. He would not establish a studio and take on apprentices until 1472. Therefore, Virgin & Child Enthroned likely has more components done by the artist’s hand than similar paintings of a later period. Virgin & Child Enthroned was predicted to sell at Sotheby’s for no more than £3 million. However, a verified Botticelli painting is always an exciting find at auction. Since most of his paintings are in prominent museum collections, there are so few of the master’s works to be bought and sold on the secondary market. The Botticelli finally sold for £8.6 million / $10.9 million (or £9.96 million / $12.6 million w/p).
An export ban can sometimes help provide an opportunity for domestic buyers to come in and keep an artwork in the country. However, that is not always the case. I commented on this reality when writing about the 2023 export ban on Sir Joshua Reynolds’s Portrait of Omai. “Though the export bar is a useful tool many governments use to keep national treasures in the country, export bars in Britain are only used successfully once in every three times. Furthermore, the export bar is most useful when there is widespread public support to have the work remain in the country, which was, unfortunately, lacking in Britain.” Eventually, the export ban on the Reynolds portrait was successful, to an extent. The National Portrait Gallery purchased the painting jointly with the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. While some in British connoisseurship or art historical circles may have been unsatisfied with the outcome of sharing a British national treasure with an American cultural institution, it will also create new possibilities for shared ownership and joint exhibition of prominent artworks.
The British government has given potential buyers until August 8th to make their offer.
Export Ban For British Botticelli
Virgin & Child Enthroned by Botticelli
The British government has placed an export ban on a rare masterpiece by Botticelli that sold last year for over £9 million.
On December 4, 2024, the Botticelli painting Virgin & Child Enthroned sold at Sotheby’s London during their Old Master & 19th Century evening sale for £9.96 million w/p. Although the identity of the Botticelli’s buyer has not been publicly disclosed, the fact that the British government has placed a temporary export ban on the painting indicates that the buyer is likely not British. According to the export ban, any British collector, dealer, gallery, or museum can purchase the work for themselves as long as they can put together £10.2 million. Only a handful of verified Botticelli paintings are on display at museums in the United Kingdom. Of the over two hundred paintings by the master still existing today, thirteen are held by museums in Britain. The National Gallery in London has eight, including Venus & Mars and The Mystical Nativity. On the other hand, the Uffizi Gallery alone has thirty Botticelli paintings, including many of his most famous works like Primavera, Adoration of the Magi, and The Birth of Venus.
Virgin & Child Enthroned spent most of its life in Italy before being purchased in 1904 by Baroness Wantage, a prominent British aristocrat and art collector. She kept it at her home at Lockinge House and then later at Betterton House, both in Berkshire. Sotheby’s specialists indicate that Botticelli likely created this particular Madonna relatively early in his artistic career, around the early 1470s. He would not establish a studio and take on apprentices until 1472. Therefore, Virgin & Child Enthroned likely has more components done by the artist’s hand than similar paintings of a later period. Virgin & Child Enthroned was predicted to sell at Sotheby’s for no more than £3 million. However, a verified Botticelli painting is always an exciting find at auction. Since most of his paintings are in prominent museum collections, there are so few of the master’s works to be bought and sold on the secondary market. The Botticelli finally sold for £8.6 million / $10.9 million (or £9.96 million / $12.6 million w/p).
An export ban can sometimes help provide an opportunity for domestic buyers to come in and keep an artwork in the country. However, that is not always the case. I commented on this reality when writing about the 2023 export ban on Sir Joshua Reynolds’s Portrait of Omai. “Though the export bar is a useful tool many governments use to keep national treasures in the country, export bars in Britain are only used successfully once in every three times. Furthermore, the export bar is most useful when there is widespread public support to have the work remain in the country, which was, unfortunately, lacking in Britain.” Eventually, the export ban on the Reynolds portrait was successful, to an extent. The National Portrait Gallery purchased the painting jointly with the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. While some in British connoisseurship or art historical circles may have been unsatisfied with the outcome of sharing a British national treasure with an American cultural institution, it will also create new possibilities for shared ownership and joint exhibition of prominent artworks.
The British government has given potential buyers until August 8th to make their offer.