Botticelli Art Sale to Save Billionaire $33 Million in Capital Gains Taxes

The young nobleman gazing out of the canvas may have been a member of the House of Medici, whose powerful patriarch raised taxes on the wealthy of Renaissance Florence. Now the 540-year-old painting, “Young Man Holding a Roundel,” by Sandro Botticelli, is saving millions in taxes for a 21st Century billionaire.

The painting was acquired almost 40 years ago for just over $1 million by Sheldon Solow, the New York real estate tycoon, who plans to sell it for more than $80 million in January at Sotheby’s. Normally, the windfall would result in at least a $33 million capital gains tax bill. But because Solow routed the Young Man through his private foundation, he’ll owe a fraction of that amount -- and has already saved millions on his personal income taxes over decades.