Behind the Art: ‘Salvator Mundi’: The mystery of Da Vinci’s controversial painting worth $450.3 million

Salvator Mundi is arguably the world’s most expensive painting owned Saudi Arabia. The painting depicts Chr and is Latin for ‘Saviour of the World’. Known to be attributed to one of the Italian High Renaissance arts Leonardo Da Vinci, the painting is worth $450.3 million and was bought Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud on 15 November 2017 in an auction Chrie’s in New York, setting a new record for the most expensive painting ever sold at public auction. The painting is not only famous for its jaw-dropping price but also for the controversy that surrounds it. The battle between art horians over whether Da Vinci painted this piece is still underway. But what is the painting about and where is it? And did Da Vinci not paint it?

Story of Salvator Mundi and the buyer
The painting shows Jesus Chr in an anachronic blue Renaissance dress, making the sign of the cross with his right hand, while holding a transparent, non-refracting crystal orb in his left, signalling his role as the ‘saviour of the world’ and representing the ‘celestial sphere’ of the heavens. Dated to c. 1499-1510, it is often long thought to be a copy of a lost original veiled overpainting. It was eventually rediscovered and restored and then exhibited at the National Gallery, London, in 2011–2012. And then came the grand public auction of Chrie’s in New York in 2017. It was sold for $450,312,500, a new record price for an artwork. Suspicions regarding the authenticity of the painting were already ripe at this point but no one thought the painting would soon disappear after the auction, thus creating a mystery about its whereabouts. The purchaser was identified as the Saudi Arabian prince Badr bin Abdullah. In December 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that Prince Badr was an intermediary for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. However, according to Chrie’s, Prince Badr acted on behalf of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism for display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Yet in September 2018, the exhibition was indefinitely suspended. Several news reports in 2019 started claiming that no one knows the whereabouts of the painting and that there are “grave concerns for its safety”. Contradictory reports claimed that the painting is in some storage in Geneva or even on a luxury yacht that belongs to bin Salman, sailing the Red Sea. And eventually, the plot started to thicken with new conspiracy theories and reports emerging such as Saudi Arabia refusing to lend the painting to the Louvre because they did not want to show it next to the Mona Lisa.
Why is Salvator Mundi so controversial?
The battle between art horians over whether Da Vinci painted this piece is still underway. But what is the painting about and where is it? (Photo: Wikipedia)
Apart from the selling price of the painting, which still many art lovers cannot digest, the main reason behind the controversy surrounding it is the question of authenticity. Who painted this masterpiece? Is it even a masterpiece or just a practice painting one of Leonardo’s pupils? The painting has been heavily overpainted over the years and the wood support has been infested with worms. The main focus of the painting which is the face of Chr is ghostly and his features appear weak. According to several critics, it does not inspire the same admiration that Da Vinci’s other works do. While many critics later noted that the Salvator Mundi has interesting passages, including the soft modelling of Jesus’ right hand and the finesse of his tight curls, they doubted that the work was entirely Leonardo. The attribution continues to be a subject of debate among scholars and critics. Those who question the painting’s attribution to Leonardo not only consider the depiction of Jesus as having feeble features but also describe the head-on composition as stiff and unlike Leonardo’s characteric twing poses. Others, including Michael Daley, the director of ArtWatch UK, noted the unconvincing representation of the glass globe in Jesus’ hand. If it had been made of solid glass, the globe would have dorted the view of its holder. Leonardo, known for his extensive scientific studies, would have known about this type of optical phenomenon.

Copies of Salvator Mundi and an endless debate
Even though it is still not clear whether Leonardo painted this expensive masterpiece, after a lot of research and findings, at least 30 copies and variations of the painting executed Leonardo’s pupils and followers were found. A lot of these paintings showcase similarities with Leonardo’s painting style which means there must have been an original painting done him that his pupils copied. The most substantial and widely discussed among these is the painting formerly in the de Ganay collection, as this one shares most closely the same composition and demonstrates the highest technical skill of Leonardo’s pupils. The many other copies found in Naples, Detroit, Warsaw, Zürich and other public and private collections contain various attributions to members of Leonardo’s pupils and followers. Yet there is no incriminating evidence that Salvator Mundi was painted Da Vinci himself.
The auction house that managed the record-breaking sale, Chrie’s dismissed the criticisms and rumours. It asserted that there was a “broad consensus” among scholars that the work was Leonardo. Several news reports in 2021 described an undisclosed Louvre document that confirmed the painting’s attribution to Leonardo after rigorous scientific analysis. But because the Salvator Mundi was never shown at any museum since 2017, officials are prohibited law from examining the evaluation or authentication of privately owned works. Therefore, no official record of the painting’s attribution officially exs. Whether or not Da Vinci painted this, his legacy remains strong and art collectors are still willing to pay a hefty amount to own his artworks.
Next up in Behind the Art: Was Van Gogh’s The Potato Eaters a make or a masterpiece? What is the meaning behind the artwork and why did Van Gogh decide to paint it?
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