Rare Renaissance Portrait by Agnolo Bronzino Expect To Sell For $18 Million At Auction

A portrait by Italian artist Agnolo Bronzino is expected to fetch $18 million when it is sold at auction later this month. The work entitled, “Portrait of a Young Man with a Book,” dates to the early 16th century and is considered one of the most important Renaissance portraits remaining in private hands.

The painting depicts a man in his twenties with a reddish beard. He is dressed in black and seated at a table covered with green cloth. The work is among Bronzino’s early portraits, painted when his style was closely associated with that of his teacher Jacopo Pontormo.

“They were generally commissioned by wealthy people to convey a certain swagger and confidence,” Nicholas Hall, the head of Christie’s international department of old master paintings told The New York Times.

The auction will take place at Christie’s on Jan. 30.