Damien Hirst butterfly artwork fetches £2m at auction

The artwork is 17.5 feet (5.3 m) wide and 7 feet (2.1m) high

A Damien Hirst artwork created entirely from thousands of butterfly wings has been auctioned in London for £2.2m.

I am Become Death, Shatterer of Worlds - previously owned by the city's Gagosian Gallery - had been expected to fetch between £2.5m and £3.5m.

The title of the work - Hirst's largest using butterfly wings - echoes words scientist J Robert Oppenheimer later said after the first atomic bomb.

Christie's sale of post-war and contemporary art continues on Friday.

Mr Oppenheimer's comment was based on a line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita.

A two-day auction of art by Damien Hirst set a new record for a sale dedicated to one artist in 2008.

The sale, which featured more than 200 lots, fetched £111m at Sotheby's London branch.