Beautiful Renaissance artwork from collection of Manchester newspaper owner going up for auction

A stunning artwork which is hundreds of years old which once belonged to a Manchester newspaper owner is going under the hammer.

A large 16th century Italian bronze plaquette of the Ecstasy of St. Cecilia, after the painting by the Italian Renaissance master artist Raphael, is being sold by Olympia Auctions.

The item was once in the extensive private art collection of John Edward Taylor, who owned and edited the Manchester Guardian and was an important figure in the life of the city in the 19th century.

What is the artwork going up for auction?

The artwork is a small bronze plaquette based on one of Raphael’s paintings, the St Cecilia Altarpiece.

Completed in around 1516 or 1517, it depicts St Cecilia, the patron saint of music, listening to a choir angels surrounded by important figures from Christianity.

It was commissioned for a chapel in Bologna and is now located in the Italian city.

The plaquette is estimated to fetch between £2,000 and £3,000 in the auction, which takes place on 24 November 24.

Who was John Edward Taylor?

The plaquette has a Manchester link as it was once in the private collection of John Edward Taylor, a prominent figure in the city in the 1800s.

Born in 1830, he is known for his time in charge of the Manchester Guardian, the paper his father (also called John Edward Taylor) had founded in 1821 which is now the national newspaper The Guardian.

He became a co-owner of the newspaper in 1852 and sole owner four years later. He also served as its editor from 1861 to 1872..

He was also renowned as a collector of art, starting his collection in around 1849 having returned to England after a couple of years on the continent.

The bronze plaquette has been up for sale before, as it was lot 47 in an auction of items from his collection in 1912.

That sale was advertised as putting under the hammer The Renowned Collection of Works of Art, Chiefly of the Mediaeval and Renaissance Times… formed by the Late John Edward Taylor, Esq.

Following the death of his widow, the collection was sold over several days at Christie’s for a total of £358,500.

Alongside his passion for medieval and renaissance works of art, he loved English watercolours and owned a number of paintings by the likes of Blake and Turner.

He donated works to leading London institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum.

What else is being sold?

The plaquette is part of the biggest collection of Renaissance plaques, plaquettes and medallions to be offered for auction in around a decade.

They include items by some of the most renowned artists of the time.

Plaques and plaquettes drew their subjects from Christianity, literature, history and mythology. 

They were used to adorn furniture, caskets, smaller objects such as inkwells and more fashionable items such as hat badges, sword hilts and scabbards.

Wealthy art enthusiasts would also own them, displaying them in Cabinets of Curiosities which were popular at the time.