QUICK TAKES - Feb. 14, 2009

The Material Girl has lost some of her glitter -- at auction, anyway.

A full-frontal nude photo of a 20-year-old Madonna sold for just $37,500 on Thursday, a sharp drop from the $96,000 auction record set in 2005 during flusher times.

The Lee Friedlander photograph was purchased by Italian businessman Fabrizio Masoni. He is the owner of a leather products company in Tuscany. The photo will be added to the company’s art collection and be exhibited in its showroom.

On Thursday, Christie’s had said that Friedlander’s explicit black-and-white image of Madonna may have been the highest price paid at auction for a photograph of the singer. But after further research, the auction house said Friday that the record belonged to a print taken by fashion photographer Helmut Newton that sold for $96,000.