Why The World's Most Expensive Painting Has Gone Missing (HBO)

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Last November, a painting said to be a lost work of Leonardo da Vinci went on sale at Christie’s New York. The work, “Salvator Mundi,” depicts Christ holding a crystal sphere in his left hand and offering a benediction with his right. Bidding started with a guaranteed lowest bid of $100 million; 19 minutes later, it sold for $450,312,500 — becoming the most expensive painting ever sold.

Salvator Mundi literally means “Savior of the World,” and it’s believed to be one of fewer than 20 da Vinci paintings in existence. But while a chorus of scholars have attested to its genuineness, not everyone is convinced it's a Leonardo original.

Among the skeptics is New York Magazine and Vulture’s senior art critic Jerry Saltz. He claims that the style of the work doesn’t make sense, given the artistic historical context in which it was painted. With up-and-coming art stars like Michaelangelo and Bottacelli nipping at his heels, da Vinci would be embarrassed to revert to old-fashioned Byzantine portraiture at that point in his career, Saltz asserts. He says the style of the painting instead suggests it probably was made by a da Vinci pupil.

"The second I saw Salvator Mundi in the flesh, I knew it was dead," Saltz told VICE News. "In his entire life, Leonardo never painted anybody dead-on with their chest directly on this way."

The painting also has a muddled background.

After going missing for 150 years, it suddenly appeared in 1958, when it was bought for $60 from Christie’s. At the time, it was believed to have been the work of Giovanni Boltraffio, a painter in Leonardo’s studio. New York art dealer Alexander Parish purchased it in 2005, and in 2008, it was authenticated as a real da Vinci by experts using a host of scientific methods.

In 2013, the painting was sold in Paris for somewhere between $75 and $80 million to Yves Bouvier, who sold it for $127.5 million to Russian billionaire Dimitry Rybololev. Rybololev flipped it in 2017 for $450 million, with Christie’s overseeing the sale to Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism.

But after several planned unveilings, the Lourve Abu Dhabi has so far declined to display Salvator Mundi — or even confirm its whereabouts.

Jerry Saltz explained to VICE News why he thinks the most expensive painting in the world has never been seen by the world.

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Da Vinci in his grave: Screw you man, it was a Tuesday afternoon and it was due Friday.

dear_dennis
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He’s like the art version of Gordon Ramsey

audrey
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he acts like a fake art specialist in a heist movie.

anfangerm
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“I never murdered anyone before this so it can’t be me your honour” is the same energy as his argument

staneagle
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After watching a documentary listing numerous arguments for why it is by Leonardo it's a bit disappointing to hear this guy's only argument, the subject is frontal. Good showman but not very convincing.

jonathannadeau
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Art Historians always act like they know a painter from 400+ years ago. What if Leonardo Da Vinci wanted to try something new?

SR_Block
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Had this always been a known and verified work by Da Vinci, he would be singing it’s praises and commenting on how much of a masterpiece it is.

SimonXRitchey
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Can this guy teach art history for me?! damn what a character

crieseasily
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This guy just sounds like he straight hating lol 😂

EROKR
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You can tell how passionate he is about this topic by the amount of holes he created on the canvas painting 🌝.

jonathanw
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if he could replace some bias with actual fact, i might consider his opinion

jon_z
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This has the feeling of a cut scene where they explain things in plain English from the movie The Big Short.

XskiXedgeX
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If he was a lawyer, I think he would have lost this case. He might be right but he's got to put together a more articulate case than simply "Leonardo's subjects never sit this way."

fododude
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>*puts holes on the art*
>*writes "Not Art"*
>*turns it upside down*

*ART*

mobeushealer
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I don’t give a shit who painted it, it’s still an absolutely beautiful painting.

blonded
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Art history series with this guy would be very watchable.

richardtimmsdesign
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I wrote “NOT VIDEO” on my screen with a sharpie and threw my iPad away...

DavidMcCoul
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It's not just the ringlets. The hand, the crystal ball, the whole thing feels like a Da Vinci. I can't imagine one of his students pulling off something this good.

LaRusso
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In 3030 Memes from my twitter will be worth 400 million dollars

lookdonttouchx
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“Not art.” Wow. So pretentious. It’s still a beautiful piece. The last Supper is a beautiful piece of art also, not painted by DiVinci either, but instead done by his students. That doesn’t make it not art, it a beautiful piece, adored by million.

GEOMETRICINK