A marble statue that sat in a British garden for decades has been identified as a long-lost work of Italian sculptor Antonio Canova.
It will now be sold at auction house Christie’s in London and is expected to sell for between $6.5 million to $10.5 million (£5 million to £8 million).
The statue, which Christie’s says depicts Mary Magdalene in “a state of ecstasy,” was bought by its current owners for $7,540 (£5,200) at a garden statuary auction in Sussex, England, 20 years ago.
The unnamed British couple is believed to have used the statue to decorate their garden.
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Last year, it was identified as one of the last marble sculptures completed by Canova before his death in 1822, which had been commissioned by then British Prime Minister Lord Liverpool.
“It is a miracle that Antonio Canova’s exceptional, long-lost masterpiece has been found, 200 years after its completion,” Dr. Mario Guderzo, a leading Canova scholar, said in a Christie’s press release.
Read more: Insider
