Art of the matter
The sale of Leonardo da Vinci's “Salvator Mundi” at Christie's in New York for $400 million, plus $50.3 million in commissions, on November 15, 2017, making it the most expensive painting ever sold, has taken the art world by storm.
Experts have had lingering questions about the authenticity as also the condition of the painting, “Saviour of the World”. An editorial in The New York Times said, “...The work has been marred by repeated repaintings...” Quoting The New York Times critic Jason Farago, it said the painting was “a proficient but not especially distinguished religious picture from turn-of-the-16th-century Lombardy, put through a wringer of restorations.”
The masterwork painting, one of around 16 verified da Vinci originals in existence, was put on sale by the trust of Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev. Christie’s carried out a high-decibel marketing of the painting. In the picture, Christie’s auctioneer Jussi Pylkannen taps the gavel as he ends bidding at $400 million, and agents celebrate the sale.