Top prices paid for Old Master paintings at Dorotheum auction
(Artdaily.org)

Old masters are always in season – as the Dorotheum auction of 17th October 2017 once again showed, when numerous bidders vied to acquire the excellent selection of paintings at this well-attended event. The remarkable story behind the work of the Florentine painter Felice Ficherelli, as well as the fact that is has spent the last few centuries in a family collection, were reflected in the sensational 350,508 Euros paid by an art enthusiast for `St Praxedis`. Dorotheum’s research revealed that the painting once so impressed the famous painter Jan Vermeer that he copied this particular version. Giovanni Paolo Castelli`s (“Lo Spadino“) pre-Surrealist allegorical series of the four seasons rendered in fruits and plants reached a total of 436,956 Euros. Simon Vouet`s picture of a high-ranking officer was acquired by an international museum for an excellent 295,800 Euros. A newly discovered Guercino work