Private collectionPhoto:ShutterstockChristie's auction house announced that it is putting up for sale at a summer auction Rubens' painting "A General Being Equipped for Battle" from the private collection of the Spencer family - English aristocrats, relatives of Princess Diana. The canvas has long been in the family's private collection and was stored in the Althorp estate (it is located in three counties at once: Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Norfolk). According to preliminary estimates, the cost of the painting is about 8-12 million. The Spencers have to sell the family heirlooms due to a lack of money: the estate has been under restoration for a long time and now they need to find large funds to repair the leaking roof. The collection in the Althorp estate is considered one of the best and richest in the world. The estate is now open to the public, but its unpresentable appearance increasingly turns tourists away from this attraction. It was decided to make the auction open, since a closed auction usually brings in less revenue, although, according to tradition, such large-scale works of art are sold strictly behind closed doors.
