The Monarch of the Glen (circa 1849–51, estimate on request) by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, RA (1802-1873) will lead Christie’s Old Master Evening Sale on 8 December.

The event will mark the culmination of Christie’s 250th anniversary year and the famous painting will be sold alongside important works by Francisco de Goya, Bernardo Bellotto and Edward Lear.

Iconic artwork

The auction will mark the fourth occasion that The Monarch of the Glen has appeared in Christie’s saleroom, having last been offered in 1916.

The painting is one of the most recognisable works of British art and an icon of 19th-century European painting. It was originally commissioned in 1849 for the Refreshment Room in the House of Lords and depicts a mighty stag in a mountainous Scottish landscape; monarch of all he surveys.

The work will be exhibited at Christie’s New York (4-15 November 2016) and Hong Kong (24-28 November 2016), before being on view in London (2-8 December 2016) during Classic Week.

Monarch of the saleroom

John Stainton, deputy chairman of Christie’s Old Master and British Paintings Department, said: ‘Following this year’s record-breaking Old Master sales which include Rubens’s Lot and his Daughters and two Rembrandt portraits and the iconic Armada Portrait, there is perhaps no more fitting a conclusion to our 250th anniversary than the return of The Monarch of the Glen to Christie’s King Street.

‘The sales in 1884 and 1892 prompted Landseer to become known as the “king of the salerooms” and in 2016 his masterpiece will lead Christie’s December Classic Week.’