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<i> Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation's press</i>

A small El Greco painting titled “Christ with the Cross” fetched a record $630,000 at a Madrid auction, a spokeswoman for Sotheby’s auction house said Wednesday. The painting, dating from 1585-90, was purchased by an anonymous telephone caller; the sale price set a record for a work of art auctioned in Spain, exceeding the $467,000 paid for Goya’s “Flying Witches” at auction in February, 1986. The El Greco oil, if granted an export license, could have fetched four times as much, experts say, but the government banned it for export because it is a national treasure.

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