As APOLLO'S review of museum acquisitions of 2004 went to press, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that it had bought a panel by Duccio

Apollo, Dec, 2004 by Samson Spanier

As APOLLO'S review of museum acquisitions of 2004 (pp. 50 55) went to press, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that it had bought a panel by Duccio. The 27 x 21 cm Madonna and Child, c. 1300, was made for private devotion and is a complete work rather than a fragment. It has not been publicly exhibited for 100 years and until now only a few living scholars had seen it. The Stoclet family of Belgium sold the panel privately through Christie's for $45 million. This is the most the Met has ever paid for a single work, and with good reason: the panel was one of only two autograph works still owned privately, and the other, a Crucifixion in Sienna, would never gain an export licence.

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