Most Expensive Old Master Painting

Canaletto's "Venice, The Grand Canal, Looking North-East From Palazzo Balbi To The Rialto Bridge"
Price: £18,600,000 ($32,568,600)

At Sotheby's Old Master sale in London on July 7, the top lot was Canaletto’s "Venice, The Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi." The painting was one of the first artworks to hang in 10 Downing Street, the traditional home of Britain's prime minister, and had originally belonged to Sir Robert Walpole (1721-42), who was England's first prime minister. The sale price exceeded the previous auction record of £11.4 million for a Canaletto set at Christie's the previous day, making it the sixth-most expensive old master painting ever auctioned. --Isabella Geist