A small line found on the back of a frame, accompanied by a letter from Michelangelo’s last direct descendant, was initially estimated to be worth between $6,000 and $8,000. However, New York’s Christie’s announced that the piece sold for “33.6 times the lowest estimate,” without revealing any details about the buyer. The small line shows a marble block with the word “simile” in English, believed to have been drawn while Michelangelo was working on the famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, according to an expert at Christie’s.
Along the lines, there is also a letter written by Cosimo Buonarroti in 1836, offering the work of his “illustrious ancestor Michelangelo” to Sir John Bowring. Christie’s experts discovered the letter and diagram on the back of another drawing that had been in a private collection for decades. Although the small drawing was not signed by Michelangelo, Christie’s research confirmed that it was the work of the great Italian artist.
Christie’s stated that fewer than 10 of Michelangelo’s works are believed to be privately owned, with most of them in the Casa Buonarroti museum in Florence. The auction house did not disclose any further details about the buyer or the sale of the piece.