A painting that once sold at auction in 1958 for 45 pounds (US$72) has been authenticated as a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. It was lost for centuries and will be exhibited at London’s National Gallery starting in November.
The painting, “Salvador Mundi,” or “Savior of the World,” shows Christ holding a transparent globe in his left hand while his right hand is raised in blessing. The oil-on-wood-panel painting measures 2 feet high and is among over 90 works to be on display in the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan, which opens in November.
The Leonardo painting was valued at $200 million. It is the first painting by da Vince to have been discovered since 1909, according to Bloomberg. On top of that, da Vince paintings rarely come to market.
A painting by Jackson Pollock holds the record for the highest price ever paid for a work of art—$140 million, reported the New York Times. As for old masters, the highest price paid, according to Bloomberg, was for Titian’s “Diana and Actaeon,” which “was bought by the U.K. on behalf of the National Gallery and the National Galleries of Scotland for 50 million pounds in 2009.”
To have the painting in London’s National Gallery, the painting cannot be for sale, so the owners have backtracked and taken it off the market. It is a great chance for the public to see it before it is acquired by a private collector sometime in the future, when it would disappear from the public eye once more.
“There were some discussions with a museum concerning the possible acquisition of the painting, but it hasn’t been offered for many months,” New York-based private dealer Robert Simon told Bloomberg News.
“I’ve assured the National Gallery that the painting isn’t on the market and that there are no plans to sell it after the exhibition.”
Estimated dating of the piece varies, with some saying it is from around the Milanese period of the 1490s, while others say it is later, around the time of the “Mona Lisa,” Art News reported.
