William Poundstone reports that the Getty Museum is cleaning its storage rooms of works bought by Getty himself that don’t pass muster for the museum’s mission. Eight paintings will be sold at Sotheby’s on Jan. 27th for total estimated value of $1.3 million:

The most valuable work is Lorenzo Lotto’s Portrait of a Jeweler estimated at $250,000 to $350,000. There is also a large tryptych by the Master of Pratovecchio and a Benvenuto di Giovanni and Girolamo di BenvenutoNativity that was once (1966) considered important enough to rate a museum publication.

Getty to Sell Eight Paintings (LACMA on Fire/ArtInfo.com)