Nude photos of Madonna featuring her as an 18-year-old ballet dancer going up for auction

An online auction site is all set to take biddings on Madonna's old photographs – some showing her sans trousers and others featuring her completely nude – from a shoot forty years ago.

The auction announced by Gotta Have Rock and Roll, a site devoted to rock and roll and pop art, begins on Wednesday, 22 November. According to reports, online bidders will get to select from a collection of "original, never-before-seen nude" snaps of the Vogue singer clicked by photographer Cecil I. Taylor in 1977.

Madonna was only 18-years-old at the time when the photographs were taken at the Art Worlds Institute of Creative Arts in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

A student of the institute during that time, the songstress is even seen posing in the bunch of photographs while practising ballet in a studio.

"This photograph was shot in a series that is the earliest known nude photographs of Madonna. Very good condition, stamped on the verso by the photographer," read the listing on the photos, New York daily news reports.

Alongside the photos – which are expecting an opening bid between $800 (£604) and $1,200 (£905) – original negatives, copyrights, and a model release form bearing the signature of Madonna and the photographer will be included.

Previously, the songstress and the online auction house were involved in a legal battle over the sale of her "highly personal items". In July 2017, the 59-year-old pop star even sued the site for trying to sell a controversial love letter she wrote to her then ex-boyfriend, Tupac Shakur.

She further expressed fears that the public could obtain her DNA from her underwear or a hairbrush that were among the 22 items placed on auction.

"I understand that my DNA could be extracted from a piece of my hair. It is outrageous and grossly offensive that my DNA could be auctioned for sale to the general public," she had stated in legal documents.

"I was shocked to learn of the planned auctioning of the Shakur letter, as I had no idea that the Shakur letter was no longer in my possession," Madonna added.

Amid the brewing dispute, however, the auction of singer's personal items was halted.