$20 Million Stradivarius Cello Damaged In Royal Palace Accident

A Stradivarius cello housed in the Spanish Royal Palace and worth an estimated $20 million was damgged during an accident several weeks ago.

While National Heritage officials won’t comment on exactly what happened to the cello an El Mundo newspaper claims that it simply fell off a table during a photo session. The official however who spoke on condition of anonymity because of department policy would not provide further details about how the accident occurred.

What we do know that is the cello sustained damage to a piece that joins the neck of the 17th-century instrument to the body. Apparently that piece broke and fell off the cello.

Experts note that the broken piece itself wasn’t an original and had been replaced in the 19th century. Officials will now go through the painstaking process of creating a perfectly fitted piece to restore the cello to its original luster.

The National Heritage will not put a price on the Cello which is part of the Spanish Royal family’s instruments which include two violins and a viola, together they make up “the Quartet” because they were all commissioned at the same time.

The cello’s $20 million price tag was estimated by Tim Ingles, head of the musical instrument department at Sotheby’s auction house in London, England.

The true value of a Stradivarius instrument however is hard to predict as the low number of available instruments in good condition can cause erratic bidding on any instruments that come up for sale from the famed musical instrument builder.