Roaring price for ancient sculpture

A 3 1/4-inch limestone lion from ancient Mesopotamia fetched the highest price ever paid at an auction for a sculpture: $57 million.

The tiny Guennol Lioness figure, found at a site near Baghdad, had been on loan from Alastair and Edith Martin to the Brooklyn Museum of Art for nearly 60 years. It is thought to be at least 5,000 years old.

The family decided to sell the lion for financial planning reasons, the Sotheby’s auction house said. The buyer’s identity was not released.

The previous record for a sculpture at auction was Pablo Picasso’s bronze “Tete de Femme,” which sold at Sotheby’s this year for $29 million.