# Altdorfer landscape unseen for decades heads to London auction

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/rare-renaissance-masterpiece-hidden-for-70-years-could-fetch-5m-at-auction/
- Published: 2026-11-05T10:00:05+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T10:47:42+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/nov/05/rare-renaissance-masterpiece-painting-could-fetch-5m-at-auction
- Topics: Art, Culture, Entertainment, Europe, Music, World

## Key points

- Altdorfer’s rare 1520 landscape is going to auction in London.
- It has not been shown publicly for 70 years.
- Sotheby’s estimates it could sell for up to £5m.

## Summary

An exceptionally rare landscape by Albrecht Altdorfer, unseen publicly for 70 years, will be auctioned in London next month with an estimate of £3m to £5m. Its reappearance is significant because it is considered one of the earliest landscapes in western art, and the first known work by Altdorfer to come up for sale since 1980.

Painted around 1520, the work measures about 23 by 20cm and depicts dense woodland beneath a clouded sky, with a rainbow beyond the trees. Before it was identified earlier this year, only two other pure landscape oil paintings by Altdorfer were known; this painting had been in a private Swiss collection since it was acquired in 1957. It will be shown in New York from 7 to 19 November and in London from 4 to 9 December, ahead of the 9 December sale.

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