$20M Stradivarius Cello Broken in Accident

A Stradivarius cello housed at the Spanish Royal Palace was broken in an accident, an official said today. The instrument could be worth more than $20 million. The damage sustained: a piece that joins the neck of the 17th-century instrument to the body of it broke and fell off the rest of the cello. That piece was not original but rather a replacement installed in the 19th century.

The National Heritage official declined to specify what went wrong. She refused to comment on an El Mundo newspaper report that the instrument fell off a table during a photo session. She confirmed it happened about three weeks ago, and said the cello can and will be repaired. (More Stradivari stories.)