One of the few images of a 16th century Eastern potentate by a Western artist emerged from a ‘royal collection’ to sell for a multi-estimate sum at Sotheby’s, writes Roland Arkell.
The Venetian oil on panel portrait of the fabled sultan Suleyman the Magnificent painted by a follower of Gentile Bellini c.1520 was the subject of a three-way, 10-minute bidding battle ending at £4.5m (estimate £350,000-500,000) plus premium.