France, Feb. 17 -- A bronze by French sculptor Camille Claudel thought to evoke her separation with fellow artist and lover Auguste Rodin has sold for more than €3 million at auction.

The bronze, entitled L'Age mur (The Mature Age), was found by accident in an abandoned Paris flat in September last year.

Estimated between 1.5 and 2 million euros, it was sold for 3.1 million euros at the Philocale auction house in Orleans on Sunday.

The sculpture, which exists in several copies, depicts an elderly woman dragging an ageing man away, while a younger woman, kneeling behind him, appears to implore him to turn back.

The artist sculpted the piece after breaking up with her teacher and lover Auguste Rodin, who was two years her senior, ...