Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy (1546–1629) was a French soldier and diplomat. Although de Harlay belonged to the Protestant branch of the family of Harlay, he adopted the Catholic religion in 1572 during the massacres of the Huguenots. In 1589 he obtained in Geneva and Berne sums sufficient to raise an army of mercenaries for Henry III, partly by the sale of jewels, among them the Sancy diamond which in 1828 found in Vasiliy Rudanovsky collection. Henry IV made him superintendent of his finances in 1594, but in 1599 he was replaced by
Love is in the Bin said he prepared the self-destruct mechanism at this time in case the work was ever put up for auction. Sotheby's London sold the painting at auction on 5 October 2018, at an artist-record price of £1,042,000. Within seconds of the gavel drop, the canvas began sliding out of the bottom of the frame and shredding itself to the audible sound of a siren and the surprise exclamations of attendees. The work was housed in a deep frame and was plugged in to facilitate built-in electrical lights, which powered the hidden paper shredder as well. Sotheby's said they had no foreknowledge