Christie's to offer the last Leonardo Da Vinci painting in private hands
November 7, 2017: Auction house Christie’s is presenting for sale one of the greatest artistic rediscoveries of the 21st century: Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi. Painted by one of history’s greatest and most renowned artists, Salvator Mundi is one of fewer than 20 known paintings by Leonardo, and the only one in private hands.
When it re-emerged in 2005, this exquisite work, depicting Jesus Christ as the savior of the world, became the first discovery of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci since 1909. Christie’s has been showcasing Salvator Mundi in exhibitions in Hong Kong, San Francisco, London and New York, marking the first opportunities for the public in Asia and the Americas to see this exceptional and iconic work of art. The painting will be offered in Christie’s Evening Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art on November 15, 2017 in Rockefeller Plaza. The estimate is in the region of $100 million US.
Dating from around 1500, the oil on panel painting depicts a half-length figure of Christ as Savior of the World, dressed in flowing robes of lapis and crimson. He holds a crystal orb in his left hand as he raises his right hand in benediction. Leonardo’s painting of Salvator Mundi was long believed to have existed but was generally presumed to have been destroyed until it was rediscovered in 2005.
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