An original painting by Tintin creator Herge sold for a record 3.2 million euros (3.9 million dollars) at an online auction on Thursday, auction house Artcurial announced.

The painting, intended as a front cover for "The Blue Lotus" volume from 1936, easily beat the previous record for the sale of comic book art of 2.65 million euros, which was reached in 2014 for a double-page drawing by Herge.

The gouache, ink and watercolour creation sold Thursday measures 34 by 34 centimeters (13 inches) and features Tintin and his dog Snowy emerging from a porcelain jar in front of a menacing depiction of a Chinese dragon.

It was judged to be too expensive to reproduce by the Herge's publisher, which ultimately used a simplified version of the same scene for "The Blue Lotus" cover.

The selling price -- higher than Artcurial's estimate of 2.2 to 2.8 million euros -- underscores the tremendous appetite for original memorabilia of Tintin, whose adventures have entertained people of all ages since the 1930s.

In 2016, an original drawing from the "Explorers on the Moon" book sold for 1.55 million euros, a record at the time for a single comic book page.

Herge, a Belgian whose real name was George Remi, sold some 230 million Tintin albums by the time of his death in 1983.

hh/adp/js/lc