Michelangelo’s Sketch of a Leg Sold for £16.9m ( ₹206 million crowns). According to the BBC, the previously unknown image far exceeded expectations. Andrew Fletcher, head of Christie’s Old Masters Department, described the moment as one of the most memorable of his career.
Christie’s experts identified it as a study for the Libyan Sibyl, later painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The owner only submitted a photo for the award and was unaware of its importance.
The small red chalk drawing probably dates from around 1511 to 1512, when Michelangelo was preparing the second phase of the ceiling frescoes. The anonymous owner lives on the west coast of the USA and inherited the work from his grandmother.
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He said the sketch had remained in a family in Europe since the late 18th century. It was quietly preserved without recognition.
Giada Damen, a specialist in Christie’s Old Master Drawings department, examined the sketch using infrared reflectography. This technique revealed hidden drawings on the back of the sheet that closely matched Michelangelo’s style.
She compared the study of the feet to a confirmed work by Michelangelo in the Metropolitan Museum. She concluded that the sketch was probably the original.
Was Michelangelo a starving artist?
With Michelangelo’s art selling for millions today, many people wonder what his financial status was when he was alive. Many artists around the world live without money. Only after their death do their works of art receive financial recognition.
Interestingly, contrary to what many people assume, Michelangelo was one of the richest artists of the Renaissance. Yet he chose to live with extreme simplicity.
When he died in 1564, his estate was valued at about 50,000 florins, equivalent to tens of millions of dollars today. Despite this wealth, he claimed to have always lived as a poor man.
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Michelangelo often slept in his clothes and rarely spent money on comfort. In letters to his family, he complained of being “poor” to avoid constant financial demands.
He claimed this while receiving huge payments for large commissions such as the tomb of Pope Julius II. After his death, a locked chest under his bed revealed thousands of gold ducats, along with valuable possessions in Florence and Rome.
“However rich I have been, I have always lived as a poor man,” he told his biographer Ascanio Condivi.
Record art sales
Record-breaking art sales are not uncommon. In 2017, a 500-year-old painting of Christ believed to be by Leonardo da Vinci was sold in New York for a record $450 million ( ₹4,061 million crowns).
In November 2025, Gustav Klimt’s portrait of Elisabeth Lederer fetched $236.4 million ( ₹2,134 million) in New York.
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That same month, a surrealist work by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo sold for $54.7 million ( ₹493 million crowns). It set a new auction record for a female artist.
