Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of Jesus Christ became the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction after it was bought for a record $450m (£341m) in New York on Wednesday evening.
The painting, known as the ‘Salvator Mundi’ (Saviour of the World) dates from around 1500 and shows Christ dressed in blue robes, his right hand raised in blessing. In his left hand he holds a crystal sphere. The artwork is one of fewer than 20 surviving paintings accepted as from the artist's own hand.
Once owned by King Charles I, it disappeared from view until 1900, when it resurfaced and was acquired by Charles Robinson, an art collector. At that time it was attributed to a Leonardo disciple, rather than to the master himself.
The painting was sold in 1958 for just £45 and then acquired in 2005, badly damaged and partly painted-over, by a consortium of art dealers who paid less than $10,000 for it. The art dealers restored the painting and documented its authenticity as a work by Leonardo.
Billed ‘as the biggest discovery of the 21st century’, it was unveiled publicly at the National Gallery in 2011.
Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi is displayed at Christie's in London before its sale in New York ©PA
The painting was sold on Wednesday (15 November) at Christie’s auction house by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.
The sale generated 20 minutes of tense telephone bidding, with as many as six bidders reported to be in play.
While the winning bid was $400 million, fees brought the full price up to $450.3 million - more than four times Christie's' pre-sale estimate of about $100 million.
"It was a moment when all the stars were aligned, and I think Leonardo would be very pleased," auctioneer Jussi Pylkkänen told Reuters after the sale.
The auction house would not reveal the identity of the buyer.
The sale breaks the previous record for a work of art by $240m.
Picasso's "Women of Algiers (Version O)” held the record for fetching the most at auction until Wednesday's sale. That painting sold for $179.4m in May 2015.
'The Last Leonardo': Art critic, Alastair Sooke, investigates the fascinating rediscovery of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi, one of fewer than 20 surviving paintings accepted as from the artist’s own hand ©Christie's at YouTube
PICTURE: File photo dated 3 November 2017 of Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi painting on display at a press preview at Christie's in New York City ©PA
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