They thought it was a copy. The sculpture turned out to be an original worth hundreds of thousands of euros

A small marble sculpture, considered a copy of Auguste Rodin's lost work, turned out to be the original and at the auction in France reached the price of 860 thousand. euro (almost $ 1 million) – BBC said.

A sculpture from 1892 entitled “despair”, depicting a naked, huddled woman, disappeared after selling her at the auction in 1906. The work was originally one of the characters of the “Hell Gate” series.

The buyer of the work bought it as a copy and for many years the sculpture stood in his apartment on the piano, but the Rodina Committee – a research group studying the artist's work – after six weeks of analysis, he finally considered her the original.

According to the Rodin Museum, the figurine measuring 28.5 cm in height presents sadness, and after positive reactions to the work, the artist created other versions. (PAP)

MW/ AKL/