Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts took a major step yesterday towards fulfilling its goal of purchasing an 1876 Degas masterpiece entitled Duchessa di Montejasi With Her Daughters Elena and Camilla. The painting is expected to cost between $20 million and $40 million. To raise the money for the purchase, MFA auctioned off three valuable paintings from its permanent collection. “It took just five minutes for the works – two Degas pastels and a Renoir painting – to go, with the pieces approaching Sotheby’s top estimate of $17 million.”