A garden statue that sold for £5,200 in a 2002 auction has turned out to be a lost masterpiece by an Italian artist, now valued between £5m and £8m.
While the lucky sellers have not been named, it's been said the owners are a British couple who brought the marble of an idealised, penitent Mary Magdalene to decorate their garden.
When suspicions arose that their sculpture could be the long-lost Canova, the owners contacted the art adviser Francis Outred, The Financial Times reports.
Outred’s team, led by Alice Whitehead, unearthed much of its missing history.
The piece titled “Maddalena Giacente (Recumbent Magdalene)”, hailing from 1819-22, will be put up for sale by Christie’s in London on July 7.
It’s thought the piece will be a star lot during Christie's Summer edition of Classic Week in London.
The statue was reportedly commissioned by Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, during his time as prime minister, between 1812 and 1827.
In 1920 it was sold with the opulent Witley Court manor house to Herbert Smith, a carpet manufacturer, and seemed to lose its attribution to Canova.
It has since been owned by Violet Van der Elst, a businesswoman who campaigned against the death penalty in England.
Donald Johnston, head of Christie’s sculpture department, said the story behind the sculpture was “amazing”.
“I’ve seen little bronzes on tabletops that have been overlooked but not something of this scale or calibre with this history,” he said.
The sculpture is missing a crucifix that leaned on the Magdelene’s shoulder, but Outred says the work was otherwise in very good shape with some “sensitive restoration”.
It will be unveiled in London this weekend, before being shown in New York and Hong Kong.
