Review 2025

16 The Bosschaert painting, which had only recently resurfaced from a private col- lection, attracted particular attention. Bosschaert is regarded as one of the pio- neers of still-life painting in the 17 th century and as a key figure in the development of the genre. At the spring auction, the work sparked lively bidding; the hammer price of CHF 860 000 exceeded the lower estimate by more than threefold. Equally impressive was the rediscovery of a large-format depiction of the Archangel Michael by Antoine de Lonhy. The own- ers, a Swiss private collection, consigned the painting as an anonymous work. In the course of our research, it was identified as a work by de Lonhy that had long been considered lost to scholarship. A connec- tion with the Dominican churches of Turin or Chieri appears plausible. Other panels from the same altarpiece are today held in museums in Antwerp, Turin and Par- is, as well as in Swiss private collections. The Archangel achieved CHF 210 000 and represents a significant enrichment to the scholarship of 15 th -century Piedmontese painting. Particular attention was also drawn to the sale of Jan Lievens’ ‘Portrait of a woman by candlelight’. In September, this striking portrait rose from a low five-figure estimate to CHF 325 000. This rare work once again demonstrated how an attractive estimate can generate broad interest and ultimately lead to a substantially higher result. Also noteworthy was the ‘Allegory of His-