On November 15th, 2017, the painting which once sold at auction in 1958 for just £45, which is an equivalent to $90, smashes records at Christie’s in a historic bidding match. It was estimated for $100 million and soared to 450.3 Million. It is believed that this is the most ever paid for an artwork.

According to Artnews:
“It was purchased by a client on the phone with department head Alex Rotter after a 19-minute session that involved five bidders, four on the phone and one in the room.‭”

The bids came from every part of the world.

Who bought Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi? The Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman is the new owner.

Speculations abounded regarding the purchase on the last privately owned da Vinci. News broke on Dec. 7th 2017,  from the Louvre Abu Dhabi, saying that the newly inaugurated Emirati museum was going to display the painting. The Louvre Abu Dhabi revealed that it had actually acquire the work through Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, though it is still unclear how the acquisition was made and what connection it has to Prince Mohammed. According to ArtNews,  “The Saudi Arabian embassy in America said that Prince Bader has been a supporter of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and that on November 8, at the Louvre’s opening ceremony, the Department of Culture and Tourism approached the prince and asked him to act as an “intermediary purchaser.” The statement does not mention Prince Mohammed, the piece’s true buyer.”

Who is Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud?

Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud  also known as MBS, is the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, also serving as First Deputy Prime Minister, President of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs and Minister of Defense—currently the world’s youngest office holder. Few people outside Saudi Arabia had heard of Prince Mohammed bin Salman before his father became king in 2015. But since then, the 32-year-old has become the most influential figure in the world’s leading oil exporter. 

Known to be a fan of the arts, he used a proxy to buy the masterpiece.

The History of Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World)

Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World) dates from around 1500 – 1506 and measures measures 45×65 cm (26×18 inches). It’s a fairly newly discovered Masterpiece and was authenticated in 2005. It was presumed to have been destroyed when all traces of the work was lost until 1900 at which time Sir Frederick Cook acquired the painting. The painting sustained several over-paint jobs over the years that obscured its true identity and its authorship by Leonardo forgotten.

Not knowing the painting was an original by Leonardo, Cook’s descendants sold the painting at auction in 1958 for just £45 which is an equivalent to $90.

In 2005, the painting was acquired from an American estate and brought to a consortium of art dealers and a New York art historian and private dealer named Robert Simon for study.

Salvator Mundi Before Restoration

The Masterpiece had been heavily overpainted, which makes it look like a copy. It was dark and gloomy and had been cleaned many times in the past by people who didn’t know better. Once a restorer put artificial resin on it, which had turned gray, it had to be removed painstakingly. After an extensive conservation treatment by New York-based conservator Dianne Dwyer Modestini, the painting was examined by a series of international scholars.

After the restoration was completed, which took almost a year, a consensus was reached that the Salvator Mundi was in fact the original by Leonardo da Vinci.

There are currently some 15 authenticated Leonardo da Vinci paintings in the world. But they are difficult to attribute, because da Vinci often left his works unfinished.

The last painting by Leonardo da Vinci to be discovered was the “Benois Madonna” in 1909.

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The post The Journey of the Last Privately Owned Leonardo da Vinci Painting appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.

For century’s viewers of the 16th-century portrait Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda (La Joconde) have been intrigued by her mysterious smile. Her secret and subtle seductive smile inspires people throughout the world to wonder “what is she thinking” or “who was she?” Was she da Vinci’s lover?

History in fact documents that she as the wife of Leonardo’s friend a Florentine cloth merchant named Francesco del Giocondo. Leonardo worked on her portrait for four years. He was known to practice his portraits on friends.

It’s unlikely that Mona Lisa was da Vinci’s lover. Though he must have been very fond of the painting since it was one of the few that he kept in his possession and continued to perfect and never quite finished.

So what was she thinking? Why the mysterious slightly amused smile?

When da Vinci painted a model the process of posing would be long and tiresome. The model would get restless and eventually zone out. Just imagine hours on end looking impassive and holding perfectly still while the master scrutinized every detail and painted his masterpiece.

It is documented that while da Vinci painted Mona Lisa he wanted to avoid her looking melancholy, so he painted her to live music.

“… While he was painting Mona Lisa, who was a very beautiful woman, he employed singers and musicians or jesters to keep her full of merriment and so to chase away the melancholy that painters usually give to portraits.”*

The music kept her feeling light, happy and engaged.

When Leonardo captured the famous and mysterious smile it was a moment to music. It is believed that she is smiling because of the music playing for her benefit.

Leonardo da Vinci would be smiling too!

Today, the Mona Lisa is considered the most valuable painting in history. Considered priceless, Guinness World Records lists Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa as having the highest insurance value for a painting. On permanent display at the Louvre in Paris, the Mona Lisa was assessed at US$100 million on 14 December 1962. Taking inflation into account, the 1962 value would be around US$1010 million in 2023.

However Mona Lisa must have held a special place in his heart. He never considered it quite done even after working on the painting off and on over 4 years, he was obsessed with perfecting every tiny detail and it is one of the few paintings that remained in his possession. And even still today this painting is still not fully understood and continues to be a mystery.

*Giorgio Vasari, 1511. Historian. (from the book “Leonardo da Vinci”)

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