FILE - This is a Wednesday, June 15, 2016 file photo of the "Wisdom of the Earth" sculpture by Constantin Brancusi, as it is displayed at the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest, Romania. Romania’s government says it will use public funds to buy a nationally treasured work by sculptor Constantin Brancusi after a public donation campaign failed to raise the money needed. The government on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016 pledged to make up the shortfall to purchase “Wisdom of the Earth” from its private owners. The sculpture will be displayed in a museum in Bucharest. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
October 12, 2016 - 7:47 AM
BUCHAREST, Romania - Romania's government says it will use public funds to buy a nationally treasured work by sculptor Constantin Brancusi after a donation campaign failed to raise the money needed.
The government on Wednesday pledged an additional several million euros toward the country's purchase of "Wisdom of the Earth" from its private owners. The sculpture will be displayed in a Bucharest museum.
A 6-month fundraising campaign that ended last month raised 1.27 million euros ($1.4 million), well short of its 6-million-euro target.
The government had already pledged to pay 5 million euros toward the sculpture's purchase price of 11 million euros ($12.1 million.)
"Wisdom of the Earth" depicts a female figure sitting with folded arms and her legs pulled up. It is one of just a few Brancusi works remaining in his homeland.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016