Francesco Guardi, Venice, a View of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon (detail), oil on canvas, 120 x 203.7cm. Estimate 15,000,000-25,000,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 26,697,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

LONDON.- Tonight Sotheby’s London Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale was led by Francesco Guardi’s monumental masterpiece Venice, a View of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon, which established the highest price of the week of London Old Master Sales when it sold for an astonishing £26,697,250/$42,865,105/ €29,834,146 (est. £15-25 million*). Achieving a record as the 2nd highest price for any Old Master Painting sold at auction, a record for any Venetian view painting at auction**, as well as a record for the artist’s work***, the painting was sought after by two determined bidders and finally sold to an anonymous telephone bidder. Overall the sale achieved a total of £47,640,900/$76,492,229/ €53,238,651 (pre-sale est. £31,110,000-48,120,000), with an average lot value for the works sold of £952,818 million. The sale was 68.5% sold by lot and 91.6% sold by value.

Commenting on the sale, Alex Bell, Sotheby’s Co-Chairman, Old Master Paintings, Worldwide, said: “This evening’s auction provided collectors with a unique opportunity to acquire one of Francesco Guardi’s greatest masterpieces. The price established tonight sets a new auction benchmark – not just for the artist but for any view painting and indeed is the second-highest price ever paid at auction for an Old Master painting.”

Venice, a view of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon
Francesco Guardi’s monumental Venetian view painting, measuring 115 by 199.5cm, is one of four works that the artist painted on this grand scale. All executed at around the same time in the late 1760s, together they constitute the pinnacle of the artist’s output as a painter of vedute and are generally considered to be Guardi’s greatest works – the first and fullest expression of the artist’s mature style. While one of the four paintings on this scale was destroyed in a fire in the mid-20th century, this painting and its pendant have remained together until very recently.

Francesco Guardi, Venice, a View of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon (detail), oil on canvas, 120 x 203.7cm. Estimate 15,000,000-25,000,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 26,697,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

Seven further artist records achieved tonight for:
An exceptionally rare Hans Schäufelein double-sided, tempera and oil altarpiece panel, The Dormition of the Virgin, realised £2,729,250/$4,382,084/¤3,049,934, far exceeding its high estimate (est. £1.5-2 million).

Hans Schäufelein (Nrdlingen 1482/3-circa 1539/40), A double-sided, tempera and oil altarpiece panel, inner sde: The Dormition of the Virgin, outer side: Christ carrying the Cross, tempera and oil on panel, made up of several vertical planks of pine; 139.5 by 135 cm.; 55 by 53 1/8 in. Estimate 1,500,000-2,000,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 2,729,250 GBP1,500,000-2,000,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 2,729,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Madonna and child with the infant Saint John the Baptist by Antonio Allegri, better known as Correggio sold for £3,625,250 /$5,820,701/€4,051,213 (est. £2-3 million 

Antonio Allegri called  Correggio (Correggio 1489 (?) - 1534), Madonna and child with the infant Saint John the Baptist, oil on panel, 45 by 35.5 cm.; 17 3/4 by 14 in. Estimate 2,000,000-3,000,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 3,625,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

John de Critz the Elder’s oil on panel Portrait of James I realised £199,250/$319,916/¤222,662 (est. £80,000-120,000).

John de Critz the Elder (Antwerp 1551/2 - 1642 London), Portrait of James I, inscribed on an old label, verso: Wm. Phelips / Montacute House, oil on panel, 113 by 87.5 cm.; 44 ½ by 34 ½ in. Estimate 80,000-120,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 199,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Jacob Knyff’s Charles II and James, Duke of York, on board H.M.S. Triumph, with three royal yachts off Dover fetched £169,250/$271,748/¤189,137 (est. £100,000-150,000).

Jacob Knyff  (Haarlem 1638 - 1681 London), Charles II and James, Duke of York, on board H.M.S. Triumph, with three royal yachts off Dover, oil on canvas, 120.5 by 174 cm.; 47 1/2 by 68 1/2 in. Estimate 100,000-150,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 169,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Francesco de Michele’s Triptych: Central panel: Saint Gregory the Great: left wing: Saint Catherine of Alexandria: right wing: Saint Jerome realised £241,250/$387,351/¤269,597 (est. £200,000-£300,000).

Francesco de Michele (Active in Florence during the last quarter of the 14th century) , Triptych: Central panel: Saint Gregory the Great: left wing: Saint Catherine of Alexandria: right wing: Saint Jerome, tempera on panel, gold ground, left wing:124.5 by 56.5 cm.; 49 by 22 1/4 in.central panel: 130.6 by 56.5 cm.; 51 3/8 by 22 1/4 in. (extended by 11.5 cm along the upper edge, the corners made up)right wing: 124.7 by 56 cm.; 49 by 22 in. Estimate 200,000-300,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 241,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Vittore Ghislandi, called Fra Galgario, Portrait of a young man in a green tunic sold for £325,250/$387,351/¤269,597 (est. £60,000-80,000).

Vittore Ghislandi, called Fra Galgario, Portrait of a young man in a green tunic, oil on canvas, oval, 98.4 by 82.1 cm.; 38 3/4 by 32 3/8 in. Estimate 60,000-80,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 325,250 GBP.  Photo: Sotheby's

Anthonie Verstraelen’s A winter landscape with figures skating on a frozen river beside a village raised £481,250/$772,695/¤537,796 (est. £150,000-200,000).

Anthonie Verstraelen (Gorinchem 1594 - 1641 Amsterdam), A winter landscape with figures skating on a frozen river beside a village signed with monogram lower right: AVS in ligature, oil on oak panel; 35.1 by 53.6 cm.; 13 3/4 by 21 2/8 in. Estimate 150,000-200,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 481,250 GBP.  Photo: Sotheby's

Other notable prices this evening:
Sir Anthony Van Dyck’s Portrait of a Carmelite monk, head and shoulders, sold for £713,250/$1,145,194/€797,056 (est. £600,000-800,000). The intense and psychologically penetrating portrait is a hitherto unknown work, which Sotheby’s has discovered to have been painted by the youthful Van Dyck during the years he worked in Rubens’ studio.

Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - 1641 London),  Portrait of a Carmelite monk, head and shoulders, oil on oak panel, the reverse marked with the brand of the Antwerp panel-makers' Guild and the maker's mark of Peter de Noble; 62.3 by 48 cm.; 24 1/2 by 19 in. Estimate 600,000-800,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 713,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Also by Van Dyck, A Bearded Man with Hands Raised sold for£457,250/$734,161/€510,976 (est. £200,000-300,000). An important oil study Van Dyck also executed while working in Rubens’ studio, the painting’s distinctive model helped Sotheby’s confirm the attribution to the great Flemish master.

Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - 1641 London), Study of a Bearded Man with Hands Raised, oil on canvas, ca. 1630; 89 by 55.5 cm.; 35 by 21 3/4 in. Estimate 200,000-300,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 457,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Portrait of a Bearded Gentleman, In a Black Beret with white plumage by Corneille de Lyon, sold for £385,250/$618,557/€430,516 (est. £150,000-200,000). This striking portrait, which has remained in the same family’s collection for nearly two hundred years, is as notable for the immediacy of the execution as much as for its exceptional state of preservation.

Corneille de Lyon (Dutch, The Hague circa 1500/15 - 1575 Lyon),  Portrait of a Bearded Gentleman, In a Black Beret with white plumage, oil on softwood, probably beech panel; 17.9 by 14.8 cm.; 7 by 5 7/8 in. Estilmate 150,000-200,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 385,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

British Paintings
John Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral From Then Meadows sold for £657,250/$1,055,281/€734,476 (est. £500,000-700,000). This recently re-discovered view of Salisbury Cathedral in a storm offers a revealing insight into the inner (emotional) turmoil and personal anguish that this most complex artist was experiencing and attempting to come to terms with towards the latter part of his life.

John Constable, Salisbury Cathedral From Then Meadows, oil on canvas, 71 by 90 cm.; 28 by 35 1/2 in. Estimate 500,000-700,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 657,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Sale statistics:
• Sold by lot: 68.5%
• Sold by value: 91.6%
• Of the 73 lots offered, 50 sold
• Average lot value: £952,818

* Pre-sale estimates do not include buyer’s premium