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

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 ecstasy.

But Maddelena 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.