Art, Controversy, and Record-Breaking Sales

The Salvator Mundi, a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and painted around 1500, has become one of the most controversial works of art in recent memory.

There is Christ, dressed in Renaissance attire, with two fingers giving the benediction. On his left hand he holds a crystal orb, symbolizing the heavens and, as such, a master of the universe. It is a masterpiece of grand thought, though the way to glory for this did not present itself smoothly.

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The Salvator Mundi was purchased by New York dealers Robert Simon and Alex Parish in 2005 from a very poor sale in New Orleans. The dealers then did not attribute the work to Leonardo's oeuvre. The work was indeed miserable: appallingly restored, overlaid, and infested with woodworm. After the purchase, the dealers passed the painting on to renowned restorer Dianne Modestini to reconstruct it and remove all overpainting. It was featured in a 2011 Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery in London, which intensified its authenticity.

There again, sfumato, the reflection in the orb, the soft portrayal of Christ's curls of hair, and overall detail in the drapery, are cited to validate the attribution to Leonardo by some art historians. In many ways, the debate for authenticity is still going. Moreover, the stilted nature of the composition was not exactly to the twisting poses of Leonardo, hence adding more complexity to its attribution.

Besides all these artistic debates, its provenance too is obscure. The painting simply vanished from the public record between 1763 and 1900, leaving large parts of its documented history several centuries behind. This has led several scholars to assume that it might have been painted by one of the pupils of Leonardo, and not by the master himself.

Despite all these setbacks, in 2017, Salvator Mundi was sold for a record-breaking price. It is believed that Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, purchased the painting through an intermediary. After this sale, the painting has never been displayed in public, and till now, in 2022, nobody knows where it is.

The Salvator Mundi remains, for the art connoisseur, one of the most fascinating case studies in the combination of art history, market value, and authenticity. Undeniably, the stature is questionable; however, that it is sold has undoubtedly changed the game in art auctions, bringing the storm over what constitutes great artistic value and the true value given to historic works.