A Stradivarius violin has sold for a record $16 million to an anonymous donor in a transaction whose proceeds will go to the Japanese disaster relief. The violin, sold by The Nippon Music Foundation, is known as the “Lady Blunt,” named after Lord Byron’s granddaughter who once owned it. The instrument was built by Antonio Stradivari in 1721; it is one of his 600 violins and cellos that still exist today. The last time the instrument was sold, it fetched a then-record $150,000 in 1971.
