The revolver with which Vincent van Gogh is believed to have shot himself sold for 162,500 euros ($182,000) at a Paris auction¹ on Wednesday -- nearly three times the estimate.

 

疑似文森特·梵高用来自杀的一把左轮手枪周三在巴黎拍卖会上以162500欧元（182000美元）成交，几乎是其预估价的三倍。
 

 

Billed as "the most famous weapon in the history of art", the rusty² 7mm Lefaucheux revolver was bought by a private collector with a telephone bid.

 

The troubled Dutch painter died in July 1890 and experts believe he shot himself with the revolver in a field near Auvers-sur-Oise, a village north of Paris where he spent the last few months of his life.

 

Discovered by a farmer in 1965 in the same field, the gun has previously³ been exhibited at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

 

But the sale was hit by controversy⁴ on the eve of the auction as the Van Gogh Institute, which looks after the village inn where the artist spent his last days, condemned⁵ the sale.

 

"Nothing suggests that the remains⁶ (of the gun) are formally linked with the death of Van Gogh," it said in a statement, deploring⁷ the "commercialisation of a tragedy which deserves more respect".

 

While Art Auction, which sold the gun, said there is no way of being absolutely certain it is the fatal weapon, they insisted tests showed it has been in the ground for 75 years, which would fit.

 

The Dutch artist had borrowed the gun from the owner of the inn.

 

He died 36 hours later after staggering back wounded to the inn in the dark.

 

The bullet extracted from Van Gogh's chest was the same calibre as the one used by the Lefaucheux revolver.

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