Curators at the Museo del Prado in Madrid are the latest in a long string of scholars and other arts professionals to publicly announce their doubts about the attribution of the Salvator Mundi to Leonardo da Vinci. The painting was sold at Christie’s in 2017 as by Leonardo for a staggering $450m, however even prior to the sale there was considerable debate over this attribution.
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Two diamond bracelets that once belonged to Marie Antoinette (1755-1793), the queen of France, have sold at Christie’s in Geneva for CHF 7.5 million (£6.1 million). The jewellery, which includes 112 diamonds in total, outshone the pre-sale estimate by more than double.
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In 1979, five paintings were stolen from Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha, Germany. The works did not re-emerge for 40 years, and the event became communist East Germany’s biggest ever art heist. In 2019, however, the paintings were returned to Friedenstein, and new scientific analysis and research indicates that one of the portraits, previously attributed to seventeenth-century artist Ferdinand Bol, might be a lost masterpiece by Rembrandt.
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An anonymous metal detectorist has officially uncovered England’s largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold coins in a field in Norfolk. Norwich Castle Museum now hope to acquire the “internationally significant” hoard of 131 coins and four gold objects.
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The Mexican government has attempted to halt two auctions of Pre-Columbian artefacts in Paris. In a letter sent to the French Ministry, the Mexican Embassy expressed its “deep concern” about the legality of the sales.
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Professional rugby player Maro Itoje has ventured into the contemporary art auction world, with his guest curation of the upcoming ‘Contemporary Curated’ sale at Sotheby’s London. Itoje is one of English rugby’s biggest stars: he is blindside flanker for English Championship club Saracens and the England National team, and has won three European Rugby Champions Cups with his club, and three Six Nations titles with England, as well as being named European player of the year in 2016. However, Itoje is by no means only absorbed in the world of rugby. He has a keen interest in art, particularly contemporary Nigerian art, so his involvement in Sotheby’s upcoming contemporary auction seems the perfect fit.
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Jesus College in the University of Cambridge has returned a looted Benin bronze to Nigeria, becoming the first UK institution to do so. The unprecedented decision was announced in November 2019 after a student-led campaign initiated talks between the college and the Benin Dialogue Group.
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You may remember the life-sized painted lions that landed in London and other cities across the globe this summer as part of the Tusk Trust Lion Trail. The trail brought to life the stories of these iconic predators as well as the people who work tirelessly to protect them. Curated by Chris Westbrook, the trail was in situ for six weeks over the summer and covered a number of international iconic locations.
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Last week a giant puppet was welcomed to Folkestone by actor Jude Law for an international art project. ‘Little Amal’, which means hope in Arabic, represents a young refugee with big hopes as she embarks on an epic journey to find her mother.
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A set of watercolours by the Swedish female artist, Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), whose paintings are considered to be the first Abstract works in Western art history, are going to be exhibited by David Zwirner next month.
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