A hand-coloured print of Edvard Munch’s Madonna sold at auction in London yesterday for £1.25 million, Bonhams said.

The price was around double pre-sale estimates of £500,000 to £700,000 and made it the most expensive print ever to be sold at an auction in Britain, said the auction house.

The 1895 work was sold at Bonhams to a private buyer from the United States, for £1,252,000 including buyer’s premium.

The print, which had not been shown in public before coming to auction, shows the Madonna in yellow and white set against a halo of blue, green and red.