Rare Renaissance landscape attributed to Altdorfer to be auctioned in London
The painting, which was in a Swiss private collection for nearly 70 years, has an estimated value of up to £5 million.
A small Renaissance painting attributed to German artist Albrecht Altdorfer is set to enter the international art market. According to the Times of India, the work has been in a private Swiss collection for nearly seven decades and is expected to be offered at the Sotheby's Old Masters Evening Sale in London on December 9, 2026.
The painting, titled A Thickly Wooded Landscape With a Rainbow Behind the Trees and a Distant Outcrop to the Right Beneath a Cloud-Laden Sky, dates to around 1520. It measures 23.4 by 19.8 centimetres and depicts a wooded landscape with a rainbow, a rocky outcrop, and a cloudy sky. Sotheby's has placed an estimate of £3 million to £5 million on the oil painting on parchment.
Experts suggest the work could be the third known oil landscape by Altdorfer. The other two known works are held at London's National Gallery and Munich's Alte Pinakothek. The painting's history includes ownership by the House of Harrach, an Austrian aristocratic family, before it was purchased by the current owner's father in 1957.
The artwork will be presented at a New York exhibition from November 7 to 19, followed by a London viewing from December 4 to 9 before the auction.