Johnny Van Haeften of London shows a beautiful portrait of a boy by Michiel Sweerts that he bought at Christie's New York sale on Jan. 29. He also brought along the unique portrait of a black man in fancy Middle Eastern court attire looking out of an oval window by Bartolomaeus Maton, which could be seen a day later in Sotheby's New York sale. Otto Naumann of New York did not hesitate to bring over the important ''Gold Weigher'' by Cornelis de Man, which he and Alfred Bader acquired in that sale. In many cases, careful cleaning or additional research shows the work in a new light, literally and metaphorically. He has now unearthed conclusive evidence that the sitter is Francesco Duodo, the man who commanded the Venetian fleet at the battle of Lepanto in 1571 when Western Europe defeated Turkey.
Dealers are right to do so.
Added to their wealth from other sources, they offer visitors the equivalent of three or four superlative auctions. In some fields, they alone hold the high ground. Fritz Payer of Zurich puts together a show of German silver-gilt vessels that build up a small but princely Schatzkammer. No auction in recent times gets anywhere close. Again this a kind of object that is never seen at auction.