New York, Apr 11 : A photo of French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, standing naked in a pigeon-toed pose - while covering her modesty with her hands - has been sold for a whopping 91,000 dollars.

The nude portrait was auctioned as part of a sale of 140 photos from German collector Gert Elfering.

The topless photo of model-turned-French First Lady was sold on April 10 after a furious bidding war erupted at Christie's auction house.

"There was a protracted bidding battle, on the phone, on the Internet and in the room," the New York Daily News quoted Rik Pike of Christie's, as saying.

The black-and-white image, which was taken by photographer Michel Comte in 1993 during Bruni's modeling days, was bought by a Chinese art collector.

ANI