A Sandro Botticelli portrait was sold for more than $92 million

A Sandro Botticelli portrait was recently sold in Sotheby New York for more than $92 million. The renaissance portrait is one of the last Sandro Botticelli portraits not owned by a public exhibit house.

Although he was celebrated during his lifetime, Botticelli's legacy receded after his death in 1510. Awareness of his work reignited in the late 19th century, and he is today deemed a key figure in the Western art tradition. 

The Sandro Botticelli portrait was sold during a live auction stream 

Sotheby announced in a press statement that the 15th-century painting called "Young Man Holding a Roundel" has become the most expensive work by Sandro Botticelli to ever appear at an auction, and it's one of the most important old Masters work traded by the auction house. 

The press statement also added that the painting is the second work to cap the $80 million mark since Sotheby's started live-streaming its auctions during the coronavirus pandemic, with the first being Francis Bacon's "Oresteia of Aeschylus," which was sold in June for $84.5 million.

The painting is speculated to have been produced in the late 1470s or early 1480s. It was purchased by its prior owner in 1982 for just £810,000 which is about $1 million today. 

The portrait contained a miniature religious portrait by a 14th-century Sienese painter 

The painting illustrates an unidentified young man holding a little circular painting known as a roundel. The roundel is a  representation of a religious portrait by a 14th-century Sienese painter, Bartolomeo Bulgarini. 

Christopher Apostle, head of Sotheby's Old Master painting department said the painting is regarded as one of the finest paintings done in the renaissance era owned by private individuals. The email, which was sent before the auction, also described the painting as one of Botticelli's greatest works.  

A huge exhibition showcase showing around 40 of Botticelli's works at the Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris is among 2021's most expected art shows.