One month after the record auction of 24.18 million euros of a Cimabue panel, a new primitive painting has created a surprise this Saturday in Dijon. Estimated at over 400,000 euros, it soared to 6.2 million euros (including costs), under the hammer of Hugues Cortot. Painting had been found in the house of a Dijon family who did not suspect that she had owned such a heritage treasure for generations. " The owners saw this painting as a mere decorative panel and wanted to sell it with some silverware and bathroom furniture little value," says Hugues Cortot. Entrusted to the Turquin cabinet, the panel is attributed to the Master of Vissy Brod, after extensive expertise. " Stéphane Pinta did not pronounce right away. He told me that the work was complex and that he had to carry out further research, until the day he called me announcing he had found! "
A devotional panel attributed to the Master of Vissy Brod
Anonymous artist of 14th century Bohemia, the Master of Vissy Brod, owes his nickname to an altarpiece exhibited today at the National Gallery of Prague and originally intended for a Cistercian convent of Vissy-Brod, a town in the south of Bohemian. " The scenes depicting the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi and the Resurrection are attributed to him, while the other five episodes are considered as the product of his workshop," explains Stéphane Pinta, an expert in the Turquin cabinet. Made around 1350, the painting of Dijon is one of the most beautiful examples of international Gothic. " At this time, Charles IV (1316-1378), king of Bohemia and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, was the most powerful ruler of the Christian world. He decided to establish his capital in Prague and make it one of the major political and artistic centers in Europe. Saint Vitus Cathedral (1344-1420), Karlstein Castle (1348-1365), the University of Prague (1344-1420), and pictorial creations of great preciousness, such as this painting on the back of which was glued a small canvas imitating marble. " This extremely refined art, largely derived from the miniature, was intended for the high aristocracy or the court. By the richness of its ornamentations and its colors, as well as the hyperrealism in the rendering of the attitudes and the fabrics, it was close to the goldsmith's work and was designed to bluff and dazzle the spectator. "
A rare painting bought by the Metropolitan Museum of New York
The discovery of this panel by Master Vissy Brod was a major contribution to the history of art. Fewer than ten works are now attributed to him, and none have been on the market. " This painting has no equivalent, and very few museums keep such evidence of 14th century Bohemia in their collection. The painting will join the collections of the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of New York.
Le journal des encheres
