Original Mohammed cartoon sold for € 445,000

Kurt Westergaard's original Mo-toon has just been auctioned off at the staggering amount of € 445,000. The buyer is unknown.

It is less than clear to me what is meant by "original" since the gallery has four more for sale, and there are very few and small differences among these -- like the green color in the "shahada", and the red color in the fuse.

This one however, is the one that Westergaard had chosen for publication in Jyllands-Posten. The gallery calls it "2/1" - "2" because it was supposedly Westergaard's second attempt to portray Mohammed (which it isn't) and "1" because Westergaard preferred this one.

The next auction (5 days left as we speak) includes "1/1" and "2/2". "1/1" was Westergaard's first attempt to draw Mohammed for a gallery-poster, and "2/2" is almost indistinguishable from the above-mentioned "2/1".

Another auction - soon to be - includes "2/3", "2/4" and "2/5" in one suit-case. These three are also almost identical to 2/1.