Salvator Mundi

Leonardo da Vinci: Salvator Mundi

Salvator Mundi, painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci that was completed about 1500. It became the most expensive work of art ever sold when it was auctioned at Christie’s, New York, on November 15, 2017, for $450.3 million. The unprecedented sum for a heavily restored painting with questionable attribution made the Salvator Mundi, arguably, the most controversial painting of the 21st century.

The painting depicts Christ as the Savior of the World. He is shown in Renaissance dress, with two fingers extended as he gives a benediction. In his left hand, he holds a crystal orb, which represents the crystalline sphere of the heavens, alluding to his role as master of the cosmos.

Two New York dealers—Robert Simon and Alex Parish—purchased the Salvator Mundi in 2005 from a small auction in New Orleans. At the time, they did not recognize the work as a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. The piece was in poor shape. It had been inadequately restored and heavily overpainted. Moreover, its wood support had been infested with worms. The dealers took the work to renowned art restorer Dianne Modestini, who oversaw the support’s reconstruction and then stripped the overpainting and filled in missing parts. During the painting’s restoration, Modestini and its purchasers became convinced the work was by Leonardo da Vinci. The painting was subjected to years of research and analysis before it was included as a lost original in a Leonardo exhibition at London’s National Gallery in 2011.

Curators and scholars defended the decision, citing the use of sfumato, the reflection in the orb, the styling of the drapery, and the careful rendering of Christ’s curly hair as matching the Renaissance master’s technique. Nonetheless, there was not a consensus among Leonardo experts, and critics said that extensive restoration had made the quality of the original hard to assess. The painting’s provenance is equally obscure, because the work disappeared from records between 1763 and 1900. This gap, and the painting’s condition, has led to speculation that Salvator Mundi may be the work of one of Leonardo’s pupils.

Despite the painting’s flaws, it broke all auction records when it was sold in 2017. It was likely purchased by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, via a proxy. The painting has not been seen publicly since the sale, and as of 2022 its whereabouts remained unknown.