In 1498, Michelangelo Buonarroti was paid 450 ducats, about $70,000, to carve the figure of the grieving Virgin Mary and her Son out of Carrara marble. In 2024, conceptual artist Maurizo Cattelan was paid $6.2 million for an ordinary banana duct-taped to a white wall.
The buyer of the banana then ate the banana.
Oh, but, not to worry. The buyer, a cryptocurrency founder, did get a Certificate of Authenticity entitling him to get any banana and any duct tape and tape that banana to a wall any time he wants to re-create the same work.
Banana owner Justin Sun tweeted that he was eating the banana to honor its place in art history and popular culture.
