Long-lost Canova sculpture bought for couple's garden could fetch 8m

[Zorro]

Recumbent Magdalene, an art world ‘sleeping beauty’, was identified in 2002 after it was bought for £5,200

It was one of the last marble sculptures completed by the great Italian artist Antonio Canova before his death in 1822 and depicts Mary Magdalene in a state of grief.

But Maddalena Giacente (Recumbent Magdalene) – originally commissioned by the then British prime minister, Lord Liverpool – became an art world “sleeping beauty” as her authorship was gradually forgotten and her whereabouts became unknown.

Until 2002, when it was identified after it sold in a garden statuary auction for a mere £5,200, it was revealed on Thursday. It is now valued for sale between £5m and £8m.

“It is a miracle that Antonio Canova’s exceptional, long-lost masterpiece has been found, 200 years after its completion,” said Dr Mario Guderzo, a leading Canova scholar and former director of the Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova. “This work has been searched for by scholars for decades, so the discovery is of fundamental importance for the history of collecting and the history of art.”

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/mar/17/long-lost-canova-sculpture-bought-for-couples-garden-could-fetch-8m

[milestogo]

1. Canova sounds like a cousin of cannoli

[WarGamer]

2. It'll go for more than that...

Billionaires are flush right now... they'll pay much more.