Botticelli work owned by Catalan family still without a buyer two years later

The painting 'Portrait of Michele Marullo Tarcaniota' by Sandro Botticelli remains the property of the Cambó family two years after garnering “a lot of interest” at the Frieze Masters fair in London. 

There, it went on sale for €27 million where it remains available to purchase, as both the family and the Trinity Fine Art gallery have confirmed to the Catalan News Agency that there is no news on the ownership of the artwork. 

The Catalan government has ruled out acquiring the piece, as paying such a price for a non-Catalan painter is "not part of the government's procurement policy" according to sources in the department of culture. 

The portrait is now on temporary display at the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris, and next January it will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts in Valencia.

Sources close to the family that own the Boticcelli painting explain that the fact that the work was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1988 makes it difficult to sell because it can only leave the country with a temporary permit granted by the ministry of culture. 

The same sources admit that there are no active contacts with any potential buyer, or any gallery actively trying to acquire it, and that the pandemic has made them focus on other priorities.

However, unlike two years ago when it went on sale, the painting can now be visited. 'Portrait of Michele Marullo Tarcaniota' is part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Valencia, although it is now in the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris temporarily. 

In total, the painting has 14 owners, all from the Cambó family, and Trinity Fine Art is convinced that it is the last portrait of the Italian genius in private hands. 

In 2019 it raised the interest of “many” potential buyers at the Frieze Masters fair, the gallery said, although nothing has come to fruition.