LARCHMONT, N.Y. — Laying on a bed of white drapery with roses strewn about her, Nineteenth Century French artist Louis Courtat’s “Le Reveil de Venus,” featured the Roman goddess of love in all her glory. Bidders, too, seemed to share the emotion, driving the work to $50,000 over a $12,000 high estimate, including the buyer’s premium. Dated 1883, the work had been in the consignor’s collection since they purchased the piece at Sotheby’s in 1986 for $13,750.

Ron Clarke, owner, said, “The painting was shipped to us from the consignor’s home in Puerto Rico, they luckily got it out before the storm.”

With nine phone bidders on it, the work found plenty of interest from the trade and private collectors alike. Some people thought the goddess was “too nude,” according to Clarke, but that opinion did not seem to deter any bidding whatsoever on the painting.

For more information, www.clarkeny.com or 914-833-8336.