The skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex sold in a Zurich auction last week was bought by a Belgium art foundation, which plans to display the dinosaur at a new cultural centre in Antwerp.
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Fears that the spectacular T. rex skeleton, named “Trinity”, would be bought for a private collection and no longer accessible to the public can be put to rest.
The 3.9-metre-high and 116-metre-long dinosaur skeleton was auctioned in Zurich last week for CHF4.8 million ($5.4 million). While it was originally thought the buyer was an American collector, the Koller auction house identified the new owner of Trinity as the Phoebus Foundation, which is backed by the engineering and logistics conglomerate Katoen Natie.
“Phoebus has announced its intention to show Trinity to the public in its planned cultural centre in Antwerp,” a statement released from Koller said.
The Belgian logistics group Katoen Natie recently purchased the Boerentoren tower in Antwerp, an art-deco building, considered one of Europe’s first skyscrapers. It is being transformed into a cultural venue by architect Daniel Libeskind.
“The dinosaur will be on public display at the Boerentoren centre, where art lovers, researchers and enthusiasts as well as all other visitors will be able to fully enjoy the history and beauty of art, science, architecture and more in all their facets,” Phoebus Foundation chief of staff Katharina Van Cauteren said in the press release.
Until construction is complete, the foundation would like to loan Trinity to a museum. “We are exploring the possibility of loaning Trinity to a museum so that the public can already enjoy this unique specimen,” Van Cauteren said. “Scientists need not worry. Like the rest of our collection, Trinity is available for research.”
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