Sotheby's New York

Art Business News, March, 2003 by Vanessa Silberman

The star lot at the recent Old Master paintings sale at Sotheby's New York was "Descent into Limbo" by Italian Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna (ca. 1492), which sold for $28.6 million (est. $20 million to $30 million). The small panel is believed to be the last Mantegna painting that remains in private hands. Other highlights included

Frans Hals' "Portrait of a Gentleman," which sold for $2.9 million (est. $2 million to $3 million); and "The interior of a picture gallery, "an oil on copper by David (the Younger) Teniers which sold for $814,400 (est. $250,000 to $350,000).