17.11.2017, 17:10
Leonardo da Vinci's painting sold for $450 million
A unique painting “Savior of the World” by Da Vinci was sold at auction for $450 million. Unfortunately, the new owner never revealed his name. Now everyone is intrigued - who is the new owner of Da Vinci's "Savior of the World"?
On the evening of November 15, there was a sensation in art circles: the painting "Savior Mundi" or "Salvator Mundi", attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, was sold at auction for $400 million plus a fee of $50 million. “Savior of the World” became the most expensive work of painting on the planet.
"Salvator Mundi" by Leonardo Da Vinci
At Christie's auction in New York on November 15, an unknown buyer paid an incredible amount for it - $450.3 million. This was the logical conclusion of an 11-year epic with the rediscovery, research, restoration and resale of the painting.
In the painting, Jesus with chestnut curls gazes intently at the viewer. In his left hand rests a crystal sphere, and his right is raised in a gesture of blessing. According to Professor Martin Kemp of Oxford, "The Savior literally holds in the palm of his hand the welfare of the world and its inhabitants."
Leonardo clearly presented the Redeemer not as a deity, but as a man - which is extremely unusual for that time - without a crown or halo.
Journalists tried in every possible way to find out who the mystery buyer was, but they could not achieve anything.
“We do not comment on the identities of buyers, sorry,” said Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerutti. “Offers came from all over the world.”
The auction house's refusal to reveal the identity - even the gender and region of origin - of the mysterious tycoon has baffled art historians, dealers and collectors. There are not many billionaires in the world who can buy a painting for 400 million dollars and pay another 50 million in fees.
It is assumed that this is either a millionaire from the United States who decided to donate a Da Vinci painting to a museum in his homeland, since in the entire country there is only one Da Vinci painting - “Portrait of Ginevra de Benci.”
Portrait of Ginevra de Benci - another painting by da Vinci
Or it could be a billionaire collector from the East or China who will stop at nothing to get such a rarity.
It is known for sure that the “Savior of the World” belonged to King Charles I of England (1600 – 1649). A record of the painting is contained in the register of the royal collection, compiled a year after the execution of the monarch.
From 1763 to 1900 nothing is known about the panel. During this time, Christ was given a thicker beard, and his face and hair were so repainted that his image changed almost beyond recognition.
In 1958, the Salvator Mundi was auctioned for just £45 ($60 in 2017 prices). Then the panel disappeared again for almost half a century and appeared only in 2005 at a regional American auction without any attribution.
During the restoration it was discovered that the work belongs to the hand of Leonardo Da Vinci. During the restoration process, Dr. Modestini suspected that she was working with a work by Leonardo da Vinci.
“I walked home and thought I was crazy. My hands were shaking,” the scientist recalled.
Evidence of authorship is the craftsmanship of the hair and folds of Christ's clothing; da Vinci's signature technique "sfumato" - shading of paint with the palm of the hand; paint composition; detailed drawing of hands. Skeptics point out that the author failed to correctly convey the distortion of the picture that a glass ball would create. No documentary evidence of Leonardo's work on Salvator Mundi has survived.
In 2011, “Salvator Mundi” was first shown to the public at the exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci. Artist at the Court of Milan” at the National Gallery in London. However, in 2013, “Savior of the World” again appeared on the auction podium. Then it was bought for $80 million by Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier and a few days later resold it to Russian tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev for $127.5 million.
A few years later, the billionaire suspected the art dealer of fraud in transactions with works of art and filed a lawsuit. Salvator Mundi has become one of the stumbling blocks in the legal battles. Bouvier rejects all accusations.
Rybolovlev decided to sell the painting, and this time it went for a record amount - $450 million.
What other secrets did the legendary master encrypt in his works?
website invites you to discover the wonderful world of the great artist.
1. Error in the painting Salvator Mundi (“Savior of the World”)
If you look closely at the picture, you will notice that the sphere in Jesus’ hands is transparent. But who, if not Leonardo, who studied optics inside and out, should have known that the background behind the crystal sphere cannot be like that. It should enlarge and become fuzzy. Why the great artist made such a mistake is not known for certain.
2. Amazing fact about the Last Supper
What can unite Judas and Jesus in this painting? There is a parable according to which the sitter for both was the same person. Unfortunately, information about who it was exactly has not reached our days.
However, according to legend, da Vinci found his Jesus in the church choir, where he served as a singer. Later, when the fresco was almost completed and the master could not find anyone for the image of Judas, Leonardo noticed a very drunk man in a ditch with traces of a riotous life on his face. When da Vinci completed the image of Judas, the sitter admitted that he was familiar with this image and that he posed for the artist as Jesus 3 years ago.
3. Another amazing fact about The Last Supper
Another interesting nuance of this fresco. An overturned salt shaker lies next to Judas.. Interestingly, this fact can be a clear example of the belief that spilled salt is bad luck. After all, the canvas depicts the moment when Jesus says that one of those gathered will betray him.
4. Is this painting by Leonardo da Vinci?
The painting “Portrait of Isabella d’Este” was found, which, according to scientists, belongs to the brush of a brilliant artist. This is indicated by pigment and primer identical to other paintings by Leonardo, as well as the image of the woman itself, incredibly similar to the Mona Lisa (in particular the smile).
5. Is it a lady with an ermine?
The “Lady with an Ermine” went through a new scanning technique and surprised scientists by not always having an ermine. At least 2 versions of the painting were painted on the same canvas before it took on the form we now know. The first option is without an ermine, and the second is with a completely different animal.
Wikipedia preview photo
The painting "Savior of the World" was painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1499. The artist depicted Christ. With his right hand he blesses all living things, and with his left hand he holds a symbolic globe.
This is the only painting from Leonardo da Vinci's legacy that is in a private collection.
During the 17th – 19th centuries it was considered lost. It made its debut in 2004 at Christie's and was purchased by antique paintings collector Robert Simon as the work of one of da Vinci's students.
In 2007, Simon approached the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a request to study the details of its creation.
Experts came to the conclusion that this work belongs to the brush of da Vinci.
After careful repeated double-checking, the assumption was confirmed.
In 2011, at an exhibition of works by Leonardo da Vinci, the public saw this painting for the first time.
In 2013, “Savior of the World” was again presented at auction - it was purchased by an art dealer from Switzerland, already with a confident note from Leonardo da Vinci, for $80 million, immediately resold to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for $127.5 million.
In November 2017, at a public auction in New York, the owner provided the opportunity to compete for this painting. It was sold for 450 million 312 thousand 500 dollars. The buyer remained unknown.
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Leonardo da Vinci's painting Savior of the World: description, biography of the artist, customer reviews, other works of the author. Large catalog of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci on the website of the BigArtShop online store.
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Leonardo da Vinci - Italian scientist, inventor, artist, writer.
Born into the family of a notary. Soon after the birth of his son, the father left the family and married a rich woman. Leonardo was raised for the first years of his life by his mother, a simple peasant woman, then his father took the boy in with him. When Leonardo was 13 years old, his stepmother died. My father married again and became a widower again. He wanted to see his son continue his work, but Leonardo’s talent as an artist clearly manifested itself in his youth, and his father nevertheless sent him to Florence to the workshop of Andrea Verrocchio. In addition to sculpture, drawing, and modeling, Leonardo masters the humanities, chemistry, drawing, and metallurgy.
At the age of 20, Leonardo da Vinci received the qualification of a master, awarded to him by the Guild of St. Luke. His teacher Andrea del Verrocchio trusts the talented student to take part in his works and allows him to accept orders for paintings.
The next period of Leonardo's life is characterized by his fascination with the image of the Madonna.
In 1481, by order of the monastery of San Donato a Scopeto, Leonardo began work on the painting “The Adoration of the Magi.” Suddenly interrupting his work (Leonardo was inclined to abandon the work unfinished), the artist leaves Florence. The reason for his departure was the unfavorable attitude towards him of the Medici family, which was then in power.
Leonardo goes to Milan to the Sforza court. There he plays the lute and becomes known as the inventor of weapons.
In Milan, Leonardo begins to create his Treatise on Painting. This work lasted until the death of the genius.
In 1483 he received an order to paint the altar from the Franciscan Brotherhood of the Immaculate Conception. He has been doing it for three years. An interesting fact is that he had to go to court regarding payment; the trial lasted 25 years.
Leonardo receives orders from Sforza: becoming a court artist, he paints portraits.
Da Vinci invents a rolling mill, a machine for producing files, and a machine for making cloth. Also during this period, Leonardo created sketches of temples and took part in the construction of the Milan Cathedral. He developed a city sewer system and carried out land reclamation work.
From 1495 to 1498 Leonardo worked on The Last Supper.
After the loss of power by the Sforzes in 1499, Leonardo returned to Florence.
In 1502, Leonardo became an architect and chief engineer in the service of Cesare Borgia. During this period, da Vinci designed canals to drain swamps and created military maps.
In 1503, work began on the portrait of Mona Lisa.
For the next decade, Leonardo wrote little, trying to devote more time to anatomy, mathematics and mechanics.
In 1513 Leonardo moved to Rome under the patronage of Giuliano de' Medici. Here, for three years, he studied mirror making, mathematics, researched the human voice, and created new paint formulations.
In 1517, after the death of the Medici, Leonardo became court artist in Paris. Here he works on land reclamation, hydrography and very often communicates with King Francis I.
At the age of 67, Leonardo da Vinci died. His body was buried in the church of Saint-Florent-ten, but the grave was lost during many years of war.
The texture of the canvas, high-quality paints and large-format printing allow our reproductions of Leonardo da Vinci to be as good as the original. The canvas will be stretched on a special stretcher, after which the painting can be framed in the baguette of your choice.
Salvator Mundi or Salvator Mundi, a 500-year-old work confidently attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, sold on November 15, 2017 at Christie's in New York for $450,312,500 (including premium). The image of Jesus Christ, which has already been dubbed the “male Mona Lisa,” has become not only a record holder among paintings at public auctions, but also the most expensive painting on the planet, reports Vlad Maslov, a columnist for the art website Arthive. Nowadays, only less than 20 paintings by the Renaissance genius are known, and “Savior of the World” is the last one remaining in private hands. Others belong to museums and institutes.
Leonardo da Vinci. Savior of the World (Salvator Mundi). 1500, 65.7×45.7 cm
The work has been called “the greatest artistic discovery” of the last century. Almost a thousand collectors, antique dealers, advisors, journalists and spectators gathered for the auction in the main auction hall at Rockefeller Center. Several thousand more watched the sale live. The betting battle started at $100 million and lasted less than 20 minutes. After the price rose from $332 million in one step to $350 million, the battle was fought by only two contenders. The price of 450 million, named by the buyer over the phone, became the final price. At the moment, the identity of the new owner of the historical painting - including gender and even region of residence - is being kept secret.
The previous record at public auction was set by Pablo Picasso’s “Women of Algiers (Version O)” – $179.4 million at Christie’s sale in New York in 2015.
The highest price for a work by any old master was paid at Sotheby's in 2002 - $76.7 million for "The Massacre of the Innocents" by Peter Paul Rubens. The painting belongs to a private collector, but is exhibited at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.
And the most expensive work by da Vinci himself was the silver needle drawing “Horse and Rider” - $11.5 million at a sale in 2001.
Although the current owner of the “Savior of the World” remains incognito for now, the name of the seller is known. This is Russian-born billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, head of the AS Monaco football club. When researching provenance, experts were able to find out that “Savior of the World” was sold in 1958 as an alleged copy for only 45 pounds sterling ($60 at current prices). After that, it disappeared for decades and reappeared at a regional US auction in 2005 without attribution. The price is believed to have been less than $10,000. In 2011, after years of research and restoration, the painting appeared at an exhibition at the National Gallery in London, which finally assigned it to Leonardo da Vinci.
In 2007 - 2010, “Savior of the World” was restored by Diana Modestini from New York. “Crudely superimposed and distorting later layers were removed, and damaged fragments were carefully and meticulously restored,” Christie’s experts write, adding that such losses are “expected in most paintings over 500 years old.”
Oil/Board (1499)
Description
For decades, the Marquis de Gane tried to convince the museum community of the primacy of the “Savior” that adorned his mansion in Paris. According to de Gane, one of the previous owners of the painting, Baron de Laranti, acquired it in the 19th century from a monastery in Nantes, where she bequeathed the work...
“Salvator Mundi” is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, which was considered lost for a long time. Its customer is usually called King Louis XII of France. Several sketches are kept at Windsor Castle. About 20 Leonardesque works on this subject have survived. It is possible that one of them is a badly damaged original by Leonardo, completed by someone from his workshop.
For decades, the Marquis de Gane tried to convince the museum community of the primacy of the “Savior” that adorned his mansion in Paris. According to de Gane, one of the previous owners of the painting, Baron de Laranti, acquired it in the 19th century from a monastery in Nantes, where the widow of Louis XII bequeathed the work.
In 1982, the painting participated in an exhibition of the master’s works in his hometown of Vinci; this exhibition was curated by Carlo Peretti, an experienced specialist in Leonardesque attribution. Despite all his efforts, the Marquis was unable to prove that the Parisian “Savior” was painted by Leonardo. In most modern catalogs it is attributed to Francesco Melzi or Marco d'Oggiono. In 1999, the painting was sold at Sotheby's for $332,000.
An engraving from the mid-17th century, made by Wenceslas Hollar, is also known, probably commissioned by the English Queen Henrietta Maria. If the engraving is made from Leonardo's original, then we can conclude that the painting belonged to the Stuarts at that time. Perhaps it was this work that entered the collection of the Duke of Buckingham in 1688. In any case, in 1763 his descendants sold it at auction as a work by Leonardo, after which all trace of the painting was lost.
In late 2011, London's National Gallery announced that an upcoming exhibition of Leonardo's work would include Salvator Mundi from a private collection in New York alongside authentic works from his Milanese period brought to London from across Europe. In 1900, it was purchased as a work of the Milanese school by one of the richest people in Victorian England, Baronet Frederick Cook, owner of the luxurious Montferrat Palace in Sintra. In his house hung works by Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Hubert van Eyck, Diego Velazquez and Rembrandt.
“Savior Mundi” from Cook’s collection was distorted by later entries and corrections: during the era of the Counter-Reformation, the traditional mustache and goatee were added to the beardless and strangely feminine face of the Savior. In this form, it was so difficult to attribute the painting that in 1958, Cook’s heirs were able to sell it at Sotheby’s for only 45 pounds.
In 2004, at an undisclosed auction, this work was acquired by Robert Simon, an expert on old masters, and a group of art dealers. The work was then sent for restoration, during which it was cleared of records. Details of the restoration have not been disclosed. After this, “The Savior” was examined in several museums in Europe and the USA, and only the London one, after consultations with major experts, agreed to recognize the authorship of Leonardo. Attention is drawn to the high craftsmanship of the glass orb and the seemingly luminous hand of Christ, the airy lightness of the blue robes, the use of sfumato, the similarity of the drawing with sketches from Windsor Castle and the complete correspondence of the pigments of the New York “Savior” and the London “Madonna of the Rocks”.
Although Carlo Peretti disputes the attribution of this painting to Leonardo, according to preliminary estimates, the market value of the New York “Savior” could already reach $200 million.
