USA: A late painting by Rembrandt called 'Saint James the Elder' is expected to fetch up to 25 million dollars at upcoming Sotheby's auction.

A rare late work by the Dutch painter Rembrandt will go under the hammer at Sotheby's upcoming Old Master Paintings sale. The 1661 work called "Saint James the Greater," is estimated to sell for between 18 million and 25 million (U.S. dollars). A Rembrandt painting of an apostle in prayer could pass the record price of nearly $29 million for a work by the Dutch painter when it is auctioned in New York next week, Sotheby's auction house said on Friday (January 19). Although Sotheby's has valued the 1661 painting, "Saint James the Greater," at between 18 million and 25 million dollars (USD), Sotheby's Vice-Chairman George Wachter said there was a chance it could break the previous record set in 2000. Wachter said it was very rare to see a late Rembrandt painting on the market, the last sale occurring in 1961. The current sale record is held by Rembrandt's "Portrait of a Lady Aged 62", which was sold at auction by Christie's in London in December 2000 for 28.7 million dollars (USD), well above the 6 million to 8 million dollar (USD) estimate. Wachter said that there has been a lot of speculation as to why Rembrandt started painting apostles. He said he is convinced it was part of a commission for a series of apostles. "He was commissioned to do it. He didn't just all of a sudden get interested in apostles in 1661. There's certain aspects of this picture which make me feel 100 percent certain that whether it was a set of twelve or a set of six or a set of some number, they were inserted into a wall somewhere in Holland and I think more research needs to be done to see if we can figure out what the commission was."," he said. Wachter said there had been a lot of interest in the apostle painting, which was being sold by a the U.S.-based Shippy Foundation in the aid of Social Justice, Human Service and Education. The painting will be sold as part of Sotheby's "Important Old Master Paintings" auction which takes place in New York on Thursday (January 25). Also in the sale is a landscape by the Italian artist Francesco Guardi called 'View of the Villa Loredan at Paese,' estimated at 8 to 12 million dollars (USD), a portrait by Rembrandt called 'Portrait of a Young Woman with a Black Cap,' estimated between 3 and 4 million dollars (USD) and a painting by El Greco called 'The Annunciation' with is expected to sell for between 600,000 and 800,000 dollars. Also on display is a life sized bust by the Italian sculptor Baccio Bandinelli, a contemporary of Michelangelo. The marble work is called 'Bust of a Young Man' and it is estimated at 500,000 to 800,000 dollars (USD).

ITN Source | January 26, 2007

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