Scott Reyburn has a bit of news from the Old Master world with the sale of statue promoted as the work of Donatello.
Just such an “attributional upgrade” was rewarded on Jan. 4, when the New York dealer and Renaissance scholar Andrew Butterfield found a buyer for a 15th-century gilded wooden putto that he described in its accompanying catalog as a “newly identified statue by Donatello.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, three people with knowledge of the sale said the buyer was Jon Landau, the longtime manager of Bruce Springsteen and a prominent collector of Italian Renaissance art.
The transaction, involving a part exchange of works that Mr. Landau had bought from Mr. Butterfield, was worth $8 million to $11 million, those people said.
A Name Game With the Old Masters (The New York Times)
