Salvator Mundi: the Da Vinci mystery
- carlottaceccarini9
- Sep 1, 2022
- 3 min read
The 2021 French documentary film tells the troubled story of Leonardo da Vinci's lost painting. The work, dubbed the "religious version of the Mona Lisa" (Martin Kemp), has become the most expensive bought by a private individual in an auction. But is it really the work of the Italian genius or is it one of the biggest scams in art history?
Leonardo Da Vinci before abandoning Milan due to the fall of the Sforza family is said to have painted Salvator Mundi, datable between about 1505 and 1515, for a private patron. The painting leaves only one trace, the engraving by Wenceslaus Hollar, after which it was lost until 2011 when the National Gallery in London, former owner of the Virgin of the Rocks, opened its doors to the exhibition "Leonardo Da Vinci: Painter at the court of Milan," in which it exhibited the work, still belonging to a private patron, after two long years of restoration by Dianne Dwyer Modestini, who repaired the most damaged areas by restoring them. The painting's first public appearance gives it an absolute value, the National Gallery sending the message that the painting could not be sold otherwise they would not have exhibited it. An intention that did not occur true to reality.
The attribution of the Salvator Mundi to Leonardo Da Vinci has been the subject of study by art scholars around the world for years. There has been no real debate about the veracity of the work, so much as the study of it. The first attributions came first from the Metropolitan Museum in New York and then from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. To date it has been confirmed by four international scholars, but has been disputed by many others, including Carmen Bambach, Michael Daley, Jacques Franck, Charles Hope, Carlo Pedretti, Charles Robertson, and Frank Zöllner.
The work was initially appraised at $200 million, was instead purchased by a private individual, Yves Bouvier, a merchant and founder of the Free Ports of Singapore and Luxembourg, for about $80 million. Thus began the Salvator Mundi's journey from hand to hand, increasing its value exponentially. Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian oligarch who is under investigation for suspicious transactions to Donald Trump, buys the painting for an estimated $127 million. The Russian businessman accused Yves Bouvier years later of swindling him by selling him fake works, including the Leonardo painting. Despite the accusations, inquiries, and investigations that arose from conversations between those involved in the buying and selling, Rybolovlev brought the Salvator Mundi's journey to its conclusion by seeing it at Christie's November 2017 auction for $450.3 million, including auction fees, making it the most expensive work of art in history purchased by a private individual and making it an internationally renowned work of art.
The buyer, at first anonymous, turned out to be Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, himself a front man for the controversial Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, who bought the painting to coincide with Saudi Arabia's oil crisis, sparking doubts about the real reason for the purchase. The prince later reportedly made a request to the Louvre to display it alongside the Mona Lisa to consolidate Leonardo's work. The Parisian museum declined the offer, sparking rumors about the possibility of the work being displayed at the Louvre in Abu Dhabi.
The Salvator Mundi, whose attribution is still in doubt today and may remain so forever. A work that was the cause of geopolitical disagreements between France and Saudi Arabia. The protagonist of scandals, investigations and accusations, whose current location is still unknown, it will remain one of the most enigmatic works in art history.
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