Rare Mozart portrait flies above presale estimate at Paris auction

FILE PHOTO: Workers install a portrait due to be sold at auction by Christie's on November 27 which depicts composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a teenager, painted in January 1770, and attributed to Veronese master Gaimbettino Cignaroli, in Paris, November 12, 2019. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

PARIS (Reuters) - A rare portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart sold for 4 million euros on Wednesday at Christie's in Paris, rocketing past the auction house's presale estimate of 800,000-1.2 million euros.

The artwork, one of four portraits of the Austrian composer painted during his lifetime and still part of a private collection, was painted in 1770. It has been attributed to Italian painter Giambettino Cignaroli.