Stolen Art DealerA small round panel showing the Virgin seated and nursing the Christ Child, painted in oil with gold detail on oak.
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Catalogue No. 1781 · Sotheby's · London
The Virgin Mary Nursing the Christ Child
About $4.7 million in today’s money: 54 years of the typical US household’s income. Source
- Artist
- Hans Memling (German-born, active in Bruges (Early Netherlandish), c. 1430/40–1494)
- Title
- The Virgin Mary Nursing the Christ Child
- Date
- c. 1480s
- Medium
- oil and gold on oak panel, circular
- Size
- diameter 17.2 cm (6 3/4 in.)
Hans Memling, who was German-born and worked in Bruges, painted The Virgin Mary Nursing the Christ Child in the 1480s. It is a small circular panel, roughly 17 cm across, in oil and gold on oak. It shows the Virgin seated and nursing the Christ Child, with gold used for detail.
The ownership history below comes from Christie's earlier listing of the panel, since withdrawn, and is attributed rather than confirmed. It places the panel with Richard Traumann in Madrid before 1925, and with Baron Laurent Meeus in Brussels by 1941. By 1950 it was with Thomas Agnew & Sons, London.
On 7 December 1950 Captain and Mrs. Vivian Bulkeley-Johnson acquired it for The Mount Trust, Churchill, Oxfordshire. It was sold anonymously at Christie's, London, on 1 December 1978 as lot 111. A private collection in Antwerp then held it until 2007, when it was bought.
Sotheby's offered it in London on 1 July 2026 as lot 2. HENI News reports that it sold for £3.51 million, or $4.64 million. Sotheby's own result was not available to check, so the price is attributed to that report.
The sale
- Auction house
- Sotheby's, London
- Date
- 1 July 2026
- Lot
- 2
- Estimate
- £3,000,000–£4,000,000
- Sold for
- $4.6 million (including buyer’s premium) · £3,510,000
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Provenance
before 1925
Richard (Ricardo) Traumann (1849–1925), Madrid Reported
by 1941
Baron Laurent Meeus (1872–1950), Brussels Reported
by 1950
With Thomas Agnew & Sons, London Reported
1950-12-07
Acquired by Captain and Mrs. Vivian Bulkeley-Johnson for The Mount Trust, Churchill, Oxfordshire Reported
1978-12-01
Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 1 December 1978, lot 111 Reported
2007
Private collection, Antwerp, from whom purchased in 2007 Reported
Sources
- Sotheby's: Old Master & 19th Century Paintings and Sculpture Evening Auction, London, 1 July 2026 (lot 2, Memling)
- HENI News: Hans Memling's Auction Record Jumps 13% With $4.64m Sale
- Christie's, Memling, The Virgin Mary nursing the Christ Child (earlier listing, withdrawn)
Prices include the buyer’s premium, in US dollars at the time of sale, unless marked as a hammer price.