Martin Gayford

Why the Royal Academy is wrong to consider selling their precious Michelangelo

The ‘Taddei Tondo’ forms a unique aesthetic chain from Leonardo to Michelangelo to Raphael

Losing their marbles: the ‘Taddei Tondo’, c.1503, by Michelangelo. Credit: Luisa Ricciarini / Bridgeman Images 
issue 10 October 2020
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How much does a Michelangelo cost? It is, as they say, a good question, meaning: nobody really knows. The reason for this odd state of affairs is that almost none of them have ever been bought and sold on the open market, which is how the prices of most things are established.

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