A lost Da Vinci painting has been rediscovered. The painting was called Salvator Mundi (Italian for “Saviour of the World”) and recently sold for $450, 312, 500! The bidding only lasted for less than twenty minutes, yet it was the highest bidding ever made (which previously was $330 million).
This piece is one of the 16 surviving paintings of da Vinci, including the Mona Lisa and a few others around the world in museums.
It was rediscovered in 2005, and it was restored and verified for six years. Over time, there has been about 20 copies of these piece, but this was the original that had been lost since 1763. It used to be a part of King Charles I of England’s art collection. A while later, Sir Charles Robinson purchased the painting in the Cook Collection in London, but at that time it was under the name Bernardo Luini (one of da Vinci’s followers). In 1958, this collection was auctioned and sold for 45 pounds (equal to $125 today). It was rediscovered in Louisiana in 2005, and bought for $10,000 by Robert Simon and Alexander Parish.
Simon, who was an expert on da Vinci’s work, believed this was a copy. There was a lot of overpaint on it, probably done by previous owners or holders of the piece. Dianne Modestini, a professor of paintings conversation at NYU, restored the work in 2007 (when it was still believed to be a copy). The process took her six years. She was the one who questioned the originality of the piece. Later, in a X-Ray, scholars discovered that there was pentimento, which is traces of earlier paint, under the top layer of the paint. In 2011, scholars came to the conclusion that this was the work of da Vinci. As stated earlier, it has recently been sold for over 450 million dollars.
The image shows Jesus with his left hand over a clear crystal globe, which is meant to show the world. His right hand is up in the standard position, with two fingers about to bless the world. His curly hair, beard, and soft skin tones are very characteristic of Christ’s depicted during the Renaissance era.
As someone who loves Renaissance works, I am super excited to know that another work of da Vinci’s has been rediscovered!
Feature picture from South China Morning Post