20 years ago, a British couple purchased a statue for £5,200 ($7,540) to decorate their garden. The weathered piece was then restored to its original white finish last summer when it was identified to be a long-lost work of Italian master Antonio Canova, which has been searched for by scholars for decades.
The sculpture, titled “Maddalena Giacente” (Recumbent Magdalene), depicts a penitent Mary Magdalene “in a state of ecstasy,” according to Christie’s. It was commissioned by Robert Jenkinson, second Earl of Liverpool, during his term as British prime minister and made between 1819 and 1822.
