Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ sells for record $450 million

The last Leonardo da Vinci painting in private hands sold for $450 million on Wednesday evening after a fevered, 19-minute round of bidding at Christie’s in Manhattan, shattering the record for the most expensive piece of art ever sold.

• The most expensive work of art ever sold; the price is more than double the previous record, Picasso’s Les femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’), which fetched $179.4 million in 2015.
• The $450m figure includes $50.3m of premiums paid by the buyer to Christie’s for its services.
• Following its sale for $127.5m in 2013, the painting was at the centre of a legal feud between then buyer Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian billionaire and owner of Monaco football club, and seller Yves Bouvier, owner of Natural Le Coultre, one of the largest fine-art storage and shipping specialists.
• The New York Times reported that the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, was the true buyer behind the purchase and Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Farhan al-Saud was an intermediary at Christie's auction.
• The purchase comes at an awkward time for the crown prince because he is leading a sweeping crackdown on corruption and self-enrichment by the Saudi elite.
• The New York Times has also reported that Crown Prince Mohammad has purchased the $300 million Chateau Louis XIV in France.

Salvator Mundi — Latin for Saviour of the World — one of only 15 surviving works by Leonardo da Vinci.

Dimensions 45.4 cm × 65.6 cm (25.8 in × 19.2 in)

Owner: Louvre Abu Dhabi

Created: 1490

Medium: Oil paint

“Salvator Mundi”, Latin for “saviour of the world”, is one of roughly 15 surviving works by Da Vinci and depicts Jesus Christ in a flowing robe, holding a crystal orb and raising his right hand in benediction.

The 67.5cm tall portrait, painted around 1500 and once owned by King Charles I of England, was presumed lost until its rediscovery in 2005. It was publicly unveiled at the Da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery in London in 2011 following extensive restoration to fix years of overpainting and neglect.

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The Louvre Abu Dhabi was established on November 8, 2017. It is part of a thirty-year agreement between the city of Abu Dhabi and the French government.  It is said to have cost founders over one billion euros, including 400 million euros to carry the Louvre name.

A night view of the Louvre Abhu Dhabi, with the city skyline of Abu Dhabi in the background, on November 6, 2017.