Rembrandt’s Saintly Portrait Tops Sotheby’s Stellar Week

Rembrandt’s portrait of a youthful Saint John—modeled by the artist’s son—stole the spotlight at Sotheby’s Old Masters sales in London. It was a standout week for the auction house: its HENI Auction Index soared to an A from last December’s D, and was its strongest showing in six years.

There is a dark side to the tender painting, however. It and a former owner were both fortunate to survive the Second World War.

The intimate portrait was purchased in the late 1920s by the iron, coal and steel billionaire Friederich “Fritz” Thyssen and passed down by descent through the dynasty before it was consigned to the auction house, where it sold for nearly $9m with fees on December 3.

The German industrialist was among Hitler’s early backers but he later regretted that support and left Nazi Germany for France after the Kristallnacht pogrom. When France was defeated, Fritz Thyssen found himself under arrest. He was deported to Germany where he spent the war in concentration camps. He survived the ordeal and after the war went to Argentina where he was briefly reunited with his Rembrandt before his death.

Saint John on Patmos, whose head is based on the features of Titus van Rijn, had a guarantee and sold for 35% above its low estimate.

Last week, Sotheby’s held four Old Master sales that included later works up to the 19th century.

Another portrait with dynastic links deserved its moment in the limelight. Hans Eworth's painting of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, sold for $4.25m with fees, setting a new record for the Flemish artist and an Elizabethan-era painting.

The portrait was consigned by the Rothschild Family Collection and was formerly displayed in the stately home of Waddesdon Manor in England.

Sotheby’s total sales rebounded to nearly $53m, though still 20% below the average. With 357 lots offered, the volume returned to a level typical of the auctioneer’s winter sales of historic art in London.

The percentages of lots selling above low and high estimates improved to above average levels. This also helped boost its HENI Auction Index score, which is based on more than ten metrics.

The percentages of lots bought-in and withdrawn declined further to well below average.

Among the works withdrawn before it was due to be sold was an intriguing painting by one of the few early baroque artists who were female. It was a still-life of birds by Orsola Maddalena Caccia. The 17th-century artist was the daughter of a painter who became a nun and whose brush helped keep her convent’s finances in a good place.

After the fireworks of Sotheby’s inaugural modern and contemporary sales in the Breuer, its new HQ in New York, the mostly Old Master sales in London could have been a side show.

While a fraction of the size in terms of revenue, traditional art held its own, suggeting the market is ending 2025 in a good place, too.

Methodology: for how the HENI Auction Index classifies sales, see here