A multi-million dollar painting due to be sold in February has disappeared without a trace – again.
The masterpiece, which is the work of 17th century artist Diego Velázquez, has an estimated value of $35 million (£27,500,000).
Although its asking price is $35 million, the intended auction could have seen the artwork sell for upwards of $90 million. Its rarity is down to the fact that Velázquez pieces are scarcely seen on the market, even less so one that depicts a royal.
It depicts Isabella of Bourbon, who ruled alongside King Philip IV as the Queen of Spain following her marriage to the monarch in 1621.
The piece has a tumultuous history, travelling throughout Europe in the hands of aristocrats and art dealers.
It was painted in the early 1630s, an addition to the Spanish royal family’s personal collection. During Napoleon’s occupation of Spain in the early 19th century, it was removed from a Madrid palace, by whom is unclear.
The mysterious artwork reappeared almost 30 years later, put on display in Paris’ Louvre, as part of King Louis-Philippe’s Spanish art collection.
The painting’s stay in France was short-lived, however, and just ten years later in 1848 it made its way to the United Kingdom.
In 1853, the royal artwork was purchased by British banker and collector Henry Huth at auction. According to Javier Portús, head of pre-1800 Spanish Conservation at the Prado Museum, this was “one of the most important auctions of the century”.
It remained in the private collections of the Huth family for almost a century, before his heirs sold it in 1950.
The paintings’ footsteps over the next 20-odd years are unclear, however in 1978 it appeared in the hands of its current owners, the Wildensteins.
The Wildensteins, headed by the late art dealer and historian Daniel Wildenstein at the time, were a dynasty of Jewish art dealers.
In February 2024, the full-length portrait was due to be auctioned off once more, at Sotheby’s New York. However, on Christmas Eve, it was removed from the listing with no explanation.
