The Metropolitan Museum of Art deaccessioned 3,290 objects at auctions last year to generate a total of $5.4 million, the highest revenue from such sales in eight years. The sales were to refine the museum's collection and were not meant for operating expenses, say museum officials. Another $3 million worth of paintings has been sold off so far this year.

On the auction block went Old Masters and Renaissance works donated by benefactors such as former Met president George Blumenthal, who died in 1941. 

Blumenthal’s 16th-century painting titled “The Master of the Plump-Cheeked Madonnas” sold for $941,000 in January and his 15th-century Madonna and child sold for $269,000.

According to its latest annual report, the Met had a $4.4 million operating deficit in the 2013 fiscal year, which is blamed on Hurricane Sandy and other events.