This undated photo provided by Christie's shows pages from a lavishly illustrated prayerbook that is considered to be one of the highest achievements of Flemish Renaissance painting. Known as the Rothschild Prayerbook, it is slated to be sold at Christie’s New York on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014 for an estimated $12 million to $18 million. (AP Photo/Christie's)
January 24, 2014 - 1:02 PM
NEW YORK, N.Y. - A Renaissance prayer book that broke the auction record for an illuminated manuscript 15 years ago is on the auction block again in New York City.
The Rothschild Prayerbook is slated to sell at Christie's New York auction house on Wednesday for an estimated $12 million to $18 million. The ornately illustrated Book of Hours was sold to a European collector in 1999 at Christie's London for $13.4 million.
The book was commissioned around 1505 by a member of the imperial court of the Netherlands. It entered the Rothschild family collection in the 19th century.
The 150-page book features full-page colour drawings by leading masters of illumination. It was part of a collection of Nazi-confiscated treasures returned to the Rothschild banking dynasty by the Austrian government in 1999.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014