MICHELANGELO CHALK DRAWING RECENTLY DISCOVERED WITH AN ESTIMATE VALUE OF $2 MILLION

What started out as a standard online submission to Christie's evolved into a surprising revelation. Giada Damen, an expert on Old Master drawings, discovered a little red-chalk study of a foot that was roughly five inches tall when she opened a request for an auction estimate. "Michelangelo" was identified as the artist on the accompanying form. Claims such as these are common since Renaissance drawings are notoriously difficult to authenticate and frequently misattributed or fabricated. Damen nevertheless made the decision to look into it more. After months of analysis, comparison, and investigation, she finally concluded that the sketch was, in fact, the creation of Renaissance genius Michelangelo Buonarroti.

While working on the Sistine Chapel ceiling from 1508 to 1512, Michelangelo is thought to have created thousands of preliminary drawings. Today, very few of these sketches are still in private hands, and even fewer have survived. This little sketch for the Libyan Sibyl's right foot may be one of the very few pages still connected to the paintings in the Chapel, if Christie's appraisal is correct.

As he worked out how the foot would sustain the Sibyl's bent and dynamic stance, Michelangelo experimented with the pose in the sketch, pressing the chalk firmly into the paper. The drawing has the kind of immediacy that academics seek when copying his hand because of subtle line corrections that are consistent with his other works from the same era.

Christie claims that this drawing has been silently passed down through the generations in the same European family since the late 18th century. Before the present owner submitted it via the auction house's online site, it had never been studied, shown in public, or associated with Michelangelo's artwork.

The piece will go up for auction on February 5, 2026, at the Old Masters sale in New York, following Christie's authentication. Due to its rarity and close relationship to one of the most renowned Renaissance works of art, the drawing is expected to fetch between $1.5 million and $2 million.