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.
