VIENNA.- Lost in obscurity for over a hundred years –discovered by experts - successfully sold at auction: An important painting by Titian, of the Penitent Magdalen, was sold for 4.8 million euros in the Old Masters Paintings sale at Dorotheum on Wednesday 11th May 2022. After several minutes of tense bidding, the painting was secured by an anonymous telephone bidder. The winning bid represents one of the highest prices ever achieved at auction, anywhere in the world, for a work by Titian.

“This is a truly magnificent result”, says expert, Mark MacDonnell. “We are absolutely delighted to have been able to bring such an important painting to the market. This significant work by Titian, with its fascinating royal provenance, has attracted worldwide interest since its discovery, and it has been rewarded accordingly. With this sale, it has been given the recognition it deserves.”

The painting, by the important Venetian Baroque painter, Titian Vecellio, known as Titian, has had an exceptional and eventful history. It has been part of some of the famous collections of all time, once belonging to Queen Christina of Sweden (1629-1689), who was arguably one of the most intriguing female figures in European history, and to the great art connoisseur Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1674-1723), who was Regent of France during the minority of Louis XVI. It is highly probable that the painting was originally also the property of the greatest collector of them all, Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph II, and came into Swedish possession after the conquest of Prague at the end of the 30 Years' War. Most recently, Titian's Orléans-Magdalen has been in private ownership for over a hundred years.