Michelangelo’s Foot Sketch Sells for $27.2 Million at Auction

A sketch of a foot drawn by the renowned artist Michelangelo Buonaroti has achieved a staggering sale price of $27.2 million at a Christie’s auction in New York. This amount marks a record for a work of this nature, highlighting the enduring fascination with the Renaissance master’s artistry.

The small sketch, created with red chalk, was part of Michelangelo’s preparatory work for a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted between 1508 and 1512. Measuring just slightly larger than a hand, the drawing features a foot with its heel slightly raised and a shadow cast beneath it. When the owner submitted a photograph of the sketch for valuation, Christie’s experts were initially unaware of its significance.

Through thorough analysis, experts from Sotheby’s confirmed the sketch’s authenticity as a work by Michelangelo. This finding led the owner to list the piece for auction. The foot depicted in the sketch closely resembles that of the Libyan Sibyl, a figure from the fresco, who is shown turning to place a book behind her. The similarities in the foot’s posture—slightly curled toes and a raised heel with a shadow—are striking.

Giada Damen, a specialist in Christie’s Old Masters Drawings Department, stated, “Standing in front of this drawing, one can understand the full power of Michelangelo’s creative force. We can almost feel the physical energy with which he rendered the shape of the foot, pressing the red chalk firmly against the paper.”

This sketch provides a rare glimpse into Michelangelo’s process. Most of his sketches have been lost over time, with some destroyed by early collectors and others possibly burned by the artist himself. According to Christie’s, only two sketches related to the Libyan Sibyl remain—one housed in the Asmolean Museum in Oxford and the other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In total, only about 50 sketches connected to the Sistine Chapel frescoes exist, and none have been offered at auction previously.

When the sketch was placed for auction, intense competition ensued, resulting in a final sale price nearly twenty times higher than the initial estimate. The drawing had been in the same family for over 200 years. It was acquired by Arman François Louis de Mestral de Sen Saforen, a Swiss diplomat who worked for the King of Denmark, during his travels in Europe in the 18th century. After passing it down to his nephew, the family retained the sketch until they recently recognized its value, prompting the decision to sell.

Christie’s has not disclosed the identity of the buyer. The extraordinary sale underscores the continued allure of Michelangelo’s work and the substantial financial impact that historic art can command in today’s auction markets.