Michelangelo’s Foot Drawing Expected to Reach $2M at Auction

A rare five-inch red chalk sketch by Michelangelo, believed to date back around 500 years, is set to be auctioned next February at Christie’s, potentially fetching up to $2 million. This drawing, a study of a right foot for the Sistine Chapel’s “The Libyan Sibyl” (1511-1512), remained unknown to scholars until rediscovered in a photograph submitted to Christie’s by a Northern Californian collector. This collector’s family had reportedly owned the piece since the 1700s. The discovery has been lauded as a significant find in the art world, with Christie’s noting its rarity, given that most of Michelangelo’s red chalk drawings are housed in institutional collections.