We love a doc full of twists and turns, so check out some of the most mind-blowing things we've learned about the controversial painting Salvator Mundi at last night's UK Premiere + Q&A of The Lost Leonardo, and watch the film in cinemas from Friday 10 September.
1) It Has an Illustrious—and Tangled—Provenance
Some experts believe that Leonardo originally painted the work for the French Royal family, and that Queen Henrietta Maria brought it with her to England when she married King Charles I in 1625. The work remained part of the royal family’s possessions until 1763—and then went missing for nearly 150 years. It reappeared when it entered the collection of the Virginia-based Sir Frederick Cook at the turn of the 20th century and appeared on the market again in 1958, at an auction where the painting, attributed to one of Leonardo’s studio assistants, sold for a mere £45 ($72). (Source: ArtNet).
2) It’s the rarest of finds
The work is one of only 20 paintings known in existence by the artist, including his Benois Madonna, now housed at the Hermitage, which is the second-most-recent Leonardo discovery, authenticated in 1909. (Source: ArtNet).
3) Its first public appearance was controversial
In 2008, the National Gallery in London asked five Leonardo experts to look at the Salvator Mundi over an afternoon. During the informal conversation, the scholars were open to the painting being by Leonardo, but they were not asked to examine the painting thoroughly or express formal opinions. Three years later, the National Gallery presented the Salvator Mundi as an autograph Leonardo in their blockbuster exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan.
4) It was part of a massive art fraud
In 2013, it was bought by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for US$127.5 million. Rybolovlev’s purchase of this painting was part of his US$2 billion purchase of 38 pieces of fine art from an art dealer named Yves Bouvier. Rybolovlev filed a lawsuit against his former art dealer claiming he overcharged him for the paintings by as much as US$1 billion. The sale price of ‘Salvator Mundi’ was a welcome surprise for Rybolovlev who lost a combined US$150 million on the sale of his five previous works of art, according to Bloomberg. (Source: Quorum Centre).
5) It was the subject of a groundbreaking marketing campaign
Ahead of its 2018 auction, Christie’s create an extensive marketing campaign for the Salvator Mundi, sending the painting on a tour to Hong Kong, London, San Francisco, and New York, where it sells on 15th November for a world record auction price of $450,300,000. After the auction, The New York Times reveals that the Salvator Mundi’s buyer was the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman.
6) It’s the most expensive painting ever sold
In November 2017, Salvator Mundi sold for more than $450 million at auction at Christie's in New York. This sale shattered all previous records for artworks sold at auction or privately.
Previous to that, the last recorded amount on Salvator Mundi was £45 in 1958, when it sold at auction, was attributed to Leonardo's pupil Boltraffio, and was in horrible condition. Since that time it had changed hands privately twice, the second time seeing all of the recent conservation and authentication efforts. (Source: Though.co)
7) It was the subject of a lost book
In 2020, the Art Newspaper reported on a secret 46-page booklet, “Léonard de Vinci: Le Salvator Mundi”, prepared by the Louvre and printed in December 2019. The publication of the book was cancelled when the Salvator Mundi loan was refused but some copies of the book were purchased at the Louvre bookshop. Louvre spokesperson confirms that “the book was prepared in case the Louvre got the chance to present the painting. As this has not been the case, it is not going to be published”. The booklet provides detailed conclusions of the Louvre’s scientific examinations, and concludes: “The results of the historical and scientific study ... allow us to confirm the attribution of the work to Leonardo da Vinci". The entire content of the secret book is published by the French art newspaper "La tribune de l'art' in April 2021.
8) We don’t know where it currently is
Salvator Mundi was scheduled to make its public debut at the Louvre Abu Dhabi in September 2018. But the museum unexpectedly canceled the unveiling, and the painting hasn’t been seen in public since. The work’s reported buyer, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, was set to loan the work to the Louvre for its blockbuster 2019 Leonardo exhibition, but negotiations fell through after the French museum declined to show Salvator Mundi alongside the Mona Lisa, as David D. Kirkpatrick and Elaine Sciolino wrote for the New York Times in April. (Source: ArtNet).