A Renaissance painting dating to the 15th century which was found gathering dust underneath a garage workbench has fetched \u00a3685,000 at an auction in Oxfordshire.<\/p>\n
The piece, showing the Madonna and Child, is thought to have been painted by the Renaissance artist Pietro Vannucci, known as Perugino, who was born in the mid-15th century.<\/p>\n
A 15-minute bidding war took place online, over the phone and in the saleroom of JS Fine Arts in Banbury. \u201cWhen the hammer fell, there was a hush, then applause,\u201d Joe Smith, principal auctioneer, said. \u201cIt was one of those moments every auctioneer dreams of. We knew it was special, but the response was beyond anything we expected.\u201d<\/p>\n
The painting had generated so much interest from international collectors when it was put on the auction house\u2019s website in September that its phone lines were permanently engaged, according to the Antiques Trade Gazette.<\/p>\n
A local person had bought it several years earlier but did not know its true value. The sale smashed the auctioneers\u2019 previous record of \u00a3265,000 for a painting by Eric Ravilious. Perugino was one of the most celebrated and influential artists of the Italian Renaissance. Born in Umbria, he was considered on a par with Leonardo da Vinci and was deemed the \u201cbest painter in Italy\u201d in 1502. Along with Sandro Botticelli, he was commissioned to paint the walls of the Sistine Chapel in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, a generation before Michelangelo.<\/p>\n
According to the Victoria & Albert Museum, Michelangelo called the artist \u201cclumsy\u201d, and his pupil Raphael went on to outshine him. But Perugino\u2019s works became a favourite of artists and museums in the 19th century.<\/p>\n