An early self-portrait by Artemisia Gentileschi, depicting the artist as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, sold at Christie’s in New York for $5.69 million, far exceeding its $2.5–3.5 million estimate. The painting, one of only five known self-portraits by Gentileschi, was painted when she was 20 and living in Florence. The previous auction record for the artist was $5.25 million set in 2019 at Artcurial in Paris.
The sale marks a new auction record for Gentileschi, underscoring sustained market demand for Old Master works by women artists. It coincided with the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., announcing its acquisition of Gentileschi’s *Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy* (circa 1625), further signaling institutional and collector interest in her oeuvre. The work had been on loan to Oslo’s Nasjonalmuseet and is slated for a 2028 exhibition at the Nivaagaard Collection in Denmark.