An oil painting depicting Madonna in the nude with her ex-husband Guy Ritchie will be sold at auction this week.

Peter Howson’s controversial oil painting, Madonna & Guy, was completed in 2005. The Scottish artist has produced several portraits of the pop icon in a state of undress. In the painting, The Material Girl is reclining while the film director Ritchie has his hand on her thigh. McTear’s auction house in Glasgow said it expected the work to fetch up to £22,000 (approximately $35,000) when it goes on sale on Saturday. Brian Clements from the auctioneers said: “There is no doubt that the recent split of Madonna and Guy has generated increased interest in the painting. The painting created a huge amount of controversy when it was unveiled a few years ago and I think it’s safe to say it is one of a kind.”

The couple married in a fairytale wedding in 2000 at Skibo Castle in the Scottish Highlands and divorced in November 2008. They share custody of their two boys, Rocco and adopted son David Banda.

A nude photo of France’s First Lady entitled “Carla Bruni in bed” will go under the hammer next week in Berlin.

The intimate bare-breasted image of the 41-year-old wife of Nicolas Sarkozy, taken by Pamela Hanson, shows the former supermodel lying on a bed, her body partially covered by a white sheet. Only 10 numbered copies exist of the black and white print, which was taken in 1994 at the height of Bruni’s modeling career when she was 26 years old and dating Mick Jagger. The photo will be sold at the Villa Grisebach Auction in Berlin on June 4 with a reserve price of 3,500 euros (approximately $4,900).

Mr. Sarkozy is said to have “no issue” with tastefully revealing images of his wife being made public. A source at the Elysée Palace said: “He has made it clear he has no problem with this because he knows that the only images of his wife in existence are tasteful. Some may me nude, but she is a beautiful woman who was a model and only ever posed for pictures that had artistic merit.”

Last year a full-frontal nude picture of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s wife fetched £60,000 (approximately $96,000) at an auction.