Mysteries surround the most expensive painting in the world

The masterpiece "Salvator Mundi" - once auctioned for more than 450 million USD, the most expensive in the world - is currently unknown.

On the morning of October 14, in The Times, professor Martin Kemp said he was invited to Saudi Arabia to examine Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece Salvator Mundi, with the participation of security agencies. "There are reasons why I hesitate, but if it helps bring Salvator Mundi to light, then I'm ready," he said. Martin Kemp is the author of Living with Leonardo, emeritus professor of Art History at Oxford University. He played a key role in confirming the painting as Leonardo's before it was put up for auction.

The news raises hopes for the reappearance of Salvator Mundi. After the historic auction that made the painting the most expensive masterpiece in the world in 2017, the work mysteriously "disappeared".

According to Artnews, after purchasing the painting, Prince Bader of Saudi Arabia announced that it would be displayed at the Abu Dhabi Museum. However, the picture does not appear. The museum also did not explain the reason. According to a Times investigation, the painting was brought to Zurich, Switzerland in the fall of 2018 for appraisal by an insurance company. However, this activity was canceled without reason. In 2019, the Louvre Museum (Paris, France) plans to hold an exhibition of the painting. After that, the museum announced an indefinite postponement. The staff here said "it is impossible to determine the current location of the famous painting".

Bloomberg later reported that the painting was stored on Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's yacht off the coast of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, until the cultural center in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia under construction, was inaugurated. . Dianne Modestini - Professor of Fine Arts at New York University, who restored paintings - said: "Hiding such a masterpiece is unfair to art lovers around the world."

Salvator Mundi was lost for centuries, passing through many hands. According to Artnews, the painting was painted from 1506 to 1513 under the patronage of King Louis XII of France. In the 17th century, the work was in the collection of King Charles I in England and hung in the private room of his wife - Queen Henrietta Maria. Later, the painting came into the possession of their son - King Charles II.

The next appearance of the painting was in 1763, when Charles Herbert Sheffield - illegitimate son of Duke of Buckingham John Sheffield - ordered the auction of works of art after selling Buckingham Palace to King George III. The painting is placed in a gilded frame.

The work then disappeared for 140 years, until 1900, when collector Francis Cook bought it from Sir John Charles Robinson. The painting was damaged and is believed to be by artist Bernardino Luini - a student of Leonardo. The painting is included in the Cook collection at the Doughty House gallery in Richmond, London. In 1958, the work sold for £45 at Sotheby's auction. In 2005, the painting was purchased by a group of American collectors at the New Orleans auction gallery for 1,175 USD

In 2011, the work was featured in an exhibition about Leonardo at the National Gallery in London. Two years later, Sotheby's sold it privately to art broker Yves Bouvier for 80 million USD. After that, Bouvier transferred to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for 127.5 million USD. During the 2017 Christie's New York session, the painting was bought by Prince Bader bin Abdullah for a record price of 450.3 million USD. The Wall Street Journal later cited information from US intelligence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the owner of the painting. Bader just stood in for the auction.

Alan Wintermute - senior expert at auction house Christie's on paintings before the 19th century - compared the work to the discovery of a new planet. "The Salvator Mundi painting is the Holy Grail among the works of master painters before the 19th century. It is like a mystical dream, unattainable until now," he said.

The problem "Who is the author of the painting?" also caused a lot of controversy. In the documentary The Lost Leonardo, businessman Robert Simon said that when he bought the work in 2005, he knew that there were dozens of copies of the painting hanging in museums around the world, while the original's whereabouts were unknown.

A source close to the Metropolitan Museum of Art said Simon brought the painting to the museum in 2006 for inspection. At that time, the painting was severely damaged and covered with many layers of paint. "It was a ruin, dark and gloomy. It had been restored many times in the past by ignorant people. The restorer applied artificial resin to it, which had turned gray and had to be carefully removed. When they removed the excess paint, what was exposed was the original paint," this person said. After that, the painting was restored by Dianne Dwyer Modestini - art restorer and professor at New York University.

On Artnews in 2011, Robert Simon affirmed that after much research and examination of signatures, materials, and drawing styles, experts came to a consensus that the Salvator Mundi painting was the original painted by Leonardo da Vinci.

In 2011, the painting was introduced at the National Gallery in London. Before the exhibition, director Nicholas Penny invited four Leonardo experts to enjoy. Everyone commented that this was the masterpiece of the famous artist. On Artinfo, Martin Kemp - one of the people present at that time - said that as soon as he saw the painting, he determined it was the artist's original. "Leonardo was present there. The painting has a strange mystery," he said.

While many people believe that this is not a painting by the famous artist. The Prado Museum in Spain claims that the painting was painted by Leonardo's student and that he only supervised the execution. Michael Daley - Director of ArtWatchUK - said that there is no evidence to prove that the artist ever participated in drawing on the topic Salvator Mundi. Some rumors say that Salvator Mundi has been destroyed and no longer exists in the world.