Ok, I will begin by saying that the painting was acquired at auction and the current owner of Salvator Mundi is believed to be Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. At the November 2017 Christie’s auction, the buyer was officially Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, acting as an agent—reportedly on behalf of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism or possibly for Mohammed bin Salman himself. Since 2017, the painting has not been publicly displayed. It was reportedly kept aboard Mohammed bin Salman’s yacht Serene until late 2020 and is now believed to be in storage in Saudi Arabia, potentially awaiting the opening of a new museum in Al‑‘Ula or Riyadh.
Why is this painting so expensive and/or important? First I do not believe it to be that important and I am not too impressed with it. It’s history, if it really was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, say circa 1500, is long and enduring. It was, supposedly, at one time found in a rubbish bin in New Orleans and then sold, re-sold, restored, re-sold ad infinitum until if finally reached Christi’s where supposed «experts» (here we go!) attributed the painting to Leonardo. Then the Arab sheik bought it for a bit over 400 million US dollars. Then he tried to get «experts» from the Louvre to agree with the previous experts, but they said no, that they did not believe it was a Leonardo and refused to hang it (the Sheik was willing to lend it) next to the Mona Lisa, or at all in the museum. Such is the work of «experts».
I think, if it really is from 1500, that it could have been painted by Leonardo, or by any other artist from the times.
What do you think? Is it worth 400 million bucks?
CHEERS
JaZzArt en València 