The “Darmstadt Madonna” by Holbein the Younger has been known as one of the best and most valuable examples of Northern Renaissance art and was sold for a record price of $70 million in April last year, which is the highest price ever paid for an artwork in Germany. The buyer here is the much famed German billionaire and businessman Reinhold Würth who says it was completely worth the money he paid. The painting will go up for display starting January 20 in Wuerth’s museum for late medieval art, seated 70 kilometers northwest of Stuttgart.
In appreciation of the painting, Wuerth says, “The Madonna makes a deep impression — her face emits a wonderful radiance, and she has an extremely beautiful smile.” The billionaire is an art connoisseur, and his collection includes as much as 14,000 works by artists from Lucas Cranach, the Elder, to Anselm Kiefer.
[Bloomberg]
