Record selling price of any drawing, ever!

Head of an Apostle, 1519 - Raphael

As a result of crashing the Sotheby's Christmas party on Monday night I was lucky enough to have a close look at Raphael's 'Head of an Apostle,' 1519. Tucked away from the main rooms, dimly  lit, I found myself utterly transfixed on this beautiful drawing...delicious apple and pear martini in hand which I was terrified of sloshing over it. I remember thinking this was something very special and it turns out I wasn't the only one...

The drawing sold at auction yesterday for a record breaking 29.7 million, the most any drawing has ever sold for in art history. The man in charge of the auction said he was not confident it would go for even half of this as its estimate suggests. The small scale chalk drawing was a study for Raphael's Transfiguration and was part of a private collection at Chatsworth House.