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Michelangelo's Scribble Sells for $200,000 at New York Auction

The small work by Michelangelo depicts a block of marble, with the word "simile," or "similar" in English, according to Christie's auction house. ANGELA WEISS / AFP/File
The small work by Michelangelo depicts a block of marble, with the word "simile," or "similar" in English, according to Christie's auction house. ANGELA WEISS / AFP/File
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Michelangelo's Scribble Sells for $200,000 at New York Auction

The small work by Michelangelo depicts a block of marble, with the word "simile," or "similar" in English, according to Christie's auction house. ANGELA WEISS / AFP/File
The small work by Michelangelo depicts a block of marble, with the word "simile," or "similar" in English, according to Christie's auction house. ANGELA WEISS / AFP/File

A square scribbled on a yellowed piece of paper by Renaissance genius Michelangelo sold for $201,600 -- 33 times its estimated value, auction house Christie's said Wednesday.
Found stuck to the back of a frame, the small drawing accompanied by a letter from Michelangelo's last direct descendant was initially expected to sell for between $6,000 and $8,000, AFP said.
But Christie's in New York said the piece went under the hammer for "33.6 times its low estimate," without disclosing any details of the buyer.
The small work depicts a block of marble, with the word "simile," or "similar" in English. It is believed to have been drawn while Michelangelo worked on his famed Sistine Chapel ceiling, a Christie's specialist told AFP in January.
The drawing is coupled with a letter written by Cosimo Buonarroti in 1836, in which he offers the piece by his "illustrious forefather Michelangelo" to Sir John Bowring, the future governor of Hong Kong, whose signature appears at the bottom of the sheet.
Christie's specialists found the letter and diagram attached to the back of a different drawing that had been in a private collection for decades, the auction house said in a media statement.
Though unsigned by Michelangelo, Christie's said that research confirmed the great Italian artist was responsible for the small drawing.
Fewer than 10 of Michelangelo's works are thought to be privately owned, according to Christie's, with most housed in the Casa Buonarroti, a museum in Florence, Italy.

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Australia Bans Uranium Mining at Indigenous Site

A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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Australia Bans Uranium Mining at Indigenous Site

A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)

Australia moved Saturday to ban mining at one of the world's largest high-grade uranium deposits, highlighting the site's "enduring connection" to Indigenous Australians.

The Jabiluka deposit in northern Australia is surrounded by the heritage-listed Kakadu national park, a tropical expanse of gorges and waterfalls featured in the first "Crocodile Dundee" film.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the national park would be extended to include the Jabiluka site -- which has never been mined -- honoring the decades-long desires of the Mirrar people.

"They were seeking a guarantee that there would never be uranium mining on their land," Albanese told a crowd of Labor Party supporters in Sydney.

"This means there will never be mining at Jabiluka," he added.

Archaeologists discovered a buried trove of stone axes and tools near the Jabiluka site in 2017, which they dated at tens of thousands of years old.

The find was "proof of the extraordinary and enduring connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander have had with our land", Albanese said.

"The Mirrar people have loved and cared for their land for more than 60,000 years.

"That beautiful part of Australia is home to some of the oldest rock art in the world," he added.

Discovered in the early 1970s, efforts to exploit the Jabiluka deposit have for decades been tied-up in legal wrangling between Indigenous custodians and mining companies.

It is one of the world's largest unexploited high-grade uranium deposits, according to the World Nuclear Association.

Rio Tinto-controlled company Energy Resources of Australia previously held mining leases at Jabiluka.

The conservation of Indigenous sites has come under intense scrutiny in Australia after mining company Rio Tinto blew up the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters in 2020.

Australia's conservative opposition has vowed to build nuclear power plants across the country if it wins the next election, overturning a 26-year nuclear ban.