Art collector buys sketch for $1,300, only to discover it's a Michelangelo masterpiece worth millions

At a time when thrifting and reselling have become easier thanks to online marketplaces, the true value of seemingly ordinary objects has been surprising people. The latest example of this is an ordinary-looking sketch that a British man bought for less than £1,000 (~$1,300), found to be worth more than $2.18 million after it was confirmed to be the earliest-known sketch by renowned artist Michelangelo. The piece named 'Study of Jupiter' was bought by an anonymous collector in 1989, and it is up for sale at Italy’s prestigious Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato di Firenze, as per The Times. 

Hiding in Plain Sight

When the art collector bought the prized sketch in 1989, he only had to pay a three-figure sum, since it was unattributed and the owner didn't think much of it. But some years ago, an art expert told the collector that it could be one of Renaissance master Michelangelo's drawings. The  8.7 by 6 inches drawing depicts the profile of a bearded man wearing a toga, pointing at the viewer while holding a staff.

The British Museum’s Nicholas Turner first attributed the drawing to Michelangelo’s teacher Ghirlandaio due to some distinctive features, The Times reported. However, based on speculation that it could be from one of Ghirlandaio's pupils instead, the piece was studied by leading scholars including Paul Joannides, an emeritus history of art professor at Cambridge University and former director of the National Galleries of Scotland, Sir Timothy Clifford.

Unveiling a Treasure

After cataloging the old master’s drawings across several institutions, Joannides concurred that it was the work of Michelangelo himself. Further in 2019, Sir Timothy Clifford told the Daily Mail that “No other Ghirlandaio pupil draws like that.”

Joannides noted that the subject, materials, and the two-tone style accents all appear to match Michelangelo’s early style. Thus, it was finally attributed to the artist.

Clifford told The Times, “It’s the earliest-known Michelangelo drawing by a year, maybe two, than anything else we know. So it is particularly fascinating."

Experts estimate that the artist might have created the sketch in 1487 when he was working under the guidance of a teacher at the young age of 12. To date, only about 600 of Michelangelo’s drawings have survived as the artist was known to destroy his early drawings. Michelangelo’s nephew, once said that at the end of his uncle’s life, he burnt almost all the works in his Rome studio, as per the Daily Mail. Hence the survival of this precious drawing and its journey to Paris where it was sold in 1989, remains a mystery.

A spokesman for the Dickinson Gallery of London told The Times that Michelangelo’s works only appear in the market once in a decade or two. Furthermore, the majority of his works are held in museums or in exclusive private collections, making the 'Study of Jupiter' a special piece of art.

"We have had an amazing response to the work from collectors all around the world. His works have sold for far more than two million [euros]," the spokesperson added.

Prior to this drawing’s discovery, the earliest known work of Michelangelo was "A Study of Two Figures", which he had made in 1491.