Moroni’ s best works. The painting is a subtle, interesting portrait of a youngish woman who ' s not just simply sitting there, she ' s kind of appraising you at the same time. She’ s not passive. She ' s quite engaged. That’ s what I think makes it a particularly alluring and deep picture.”
The Met received Francesco Salviati ' s Bindo Altoviti( 1491 – 1557), the first painting on marble it has acquired. The piece, originally attributed to Girolamo da Carpi, caught Tavitian’ s attention at an auction in London. When it was added to his collection, scholars took a closer look and recognized that it was, in fact, a significant work of Salviati, a leading painter of the 16th century. No doubt, Tavitian had a fantastic instinct, says Stephan Wolohojian, John Pope-Hennessy Curator in Charge of European Paintings at The Met. The painting was lent to The Met for a special exhibition in 2021, and Tavitian passed away as final preparations were being made. The piece, which is incredibly fragile and cumbersome, never left The Met after that and is now on permanent exhibition in the gallery dedicated to Italian Renaissance
sculpture and decorative arts. This was an ultimate gesture from Tavitian, who generously supported The Met in many ways. For instance, he facilitated the loans from the Armenian Patriarchate of St. James in Jerusalem, as well as loans from the Mother See of Holy Etchmitdzin in Armenia and the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, for the 2018 – 19 blockbuster exhibition Armenia!. It was The Met’ s first major exhibition to explore the artistic and cultural achievements of the Armenian people in a global context over 14 centuries.
“ He was a real presence in the world of European paintings and sculpture, and he was a very hospitable, very warm person, very engaging,” says Wolohojian, who became friends with Tavitian and was invited along with others in his department at The Met to dinners at his townhouse.
THE AUCTIONS
Many more spectacular paintings and sculptures, as well as other exquisite items from Tavitian’ s townhouse and country house, were auctioned at Sotheby’ s in
January and February, resulting in $ 21 million in sales. All proceeds have gone to The Tavitian Foundation to support world peace, particularly in the Armenian region; to the arts; and to education, which includes The Tavitian Scholars Program. The last of the items were auctioned at Stair Galleries in Hudson, New York, raising an additional $ 1.6 million for the foundation.
A walk through the fourth floor of Sotheby ' s New York at the time of the Tavitian auction felt almost like you were stepping into his personal space. The sheer volume of items that he collected was realized when everything was carefully laid out on the floor. Yet, even in the galleries, there was a sense of warmth and intimacy with the pieces coming together once again and perhaps for the last time.
A few of the items that fetched the highest prices included Master of the Magdalene Legend’ s Portrait of Margaret of Austria for $ 1.4 million and Ambrosius Benson’ s Saint Mary Magdalene Reading an Illuminated Manuscript for $ 900,000. Tavitian also had one of the best collections
18 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE May / June 2025