The buyer was Colnaghi's Jean-Luc Baroni, with George Goldner as underbidder for New York's Metropolitan Museum. Baroni had been underbidder for the £8m Michelangelo drawing at Christie's in July.
Sale expert Bruno de Bayser acknowledged that his published estimate of Fr600,000 was excessively prudent, and a price in the region of Fr6m had been expected.
The drawing, 121/2 x 81/2in (31 x 21.6cm), was a study for Bronzino's 1529 Christ of the Pieta now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Few drawings by the Mannerist Bronzino (Angelo di Cosimo Allori) – pupil of Pontormo and court painter to Cosimo I de’ Medici – have survived and this powerful, sensuous depiction of the dead Christ wowed the trade despite its worn appearance, with stains, a horizontal fold, and a restored tear to the forehead.
Bronzino hits gold with new record
A pencil drawing by Bronzino (1503-72) earned Fr10.6m (£960,000) at Piasa on November 20, the highest ever price for an old master drawing in Paris, and a world record for a Bronzino drawing.
