Rijksmuseum pays $28 million for 500-year-old statue

The Rijksmuseum has bought a bronze sculpture of the Dutchman Adriaen de Vries (1556 - 1626) for $28 million (more than 22.5 million euro). The sculpture is called Bacchic Figure Supporting the Globe. "We are thrilled to have acquired this exceptional work of art by the Dutch Michelangelo, Adriaen de Vries." said Taco Dibbits, Director of Collections for the Rijksmuseum, after the purchase. "Until today there was no sculpture by him in the Netherlands." The sculpture was bought at an auction in New York and was purchased with the help of various funds and donors. According to auction house Christie's, the auction was "a tense three-way phone bidding battle that lasted four minutes". It was estimated that the sculpture would yield between 15 and 25 million euro. The work can be seen in Amsterdam from the spring.