A platinum and diamond-encrusted human skull, created by artist Damien Hirst has sold to a mystery investment group for £50 million ($100m).

The piece, which consists of a skull from the 18th century skull, covered in platinum and set with 8,601 diamonds, is reckoned to be the world's most expensive piece of contemporary art.

A spokeswoman for the White Cube gallery which displayed the piece in London said they could not give further details about the buyers, but that they planned to re-sell the artwork at a later date.

Hirst said the piece, called For the Love of God, was "uplifting" and "takes your breath away", but was criticised by some critics as tasteless.

This is not the first time Hirst has faced criticism of his work - perhaps his most famous work were a series of animals preserved in formaldehyde, which attracted widespread attention from the media and art world and were praised and reviled in almost equal measure.

The skull is built of 32 platinum plates, thousands of laser set diamonds and a pear-shaped pink diamond, set in the forehead as a centrepiece, and the new teeth made especially for the skull cost £14 million alone.

Sources:

Hirst's diamond skull raises £50m
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6971116.stm

Damien Hirst's diamond-encrusted skull cast sells for $100 million
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/30/arts/EU-A-E-ART-Britain-Diamond-Skull.php

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