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Isn't "Salvator Mundi" by Leonardo?

2021-04-08T09:22:36.686Z


The painting "Salvator Mundi" is considered to be the top trophy in the art world. But who painted it? A new TV documentary tries to refute that it was Leonardo da Vinci.


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Painting »Salvator Mundi«

Photo: Fine Art / Corbis / Getty Images

A French documentary throws new doubts as to whether the oil painting "Salvator Mundi" ascribed to Leonardo da Vinci was actually created by him.

According to the film by Antoine Vitkine, which will be shown on French television next week, analyzes by the Louvre Museum in Paris came to the conclusion that the painting was made in da Vinci's studio, but that the master himself had merely "contributed" to it.

"Salvator Mundi" is considered the most expensive painting in the world.

The work, whose Latin title means "Savior (or Savior) of the World", was auctioned in 2017 by Christie's auction house in New York for 450 million dollars (today's value: 373 million euros).

It has not been on public display since the auction.

The secret buyer is said to have been the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - which Riyadh has denied to this day.

more on the subject

  • Leonardo auction: Why this picture is the most expensive in the worldBy Carola Padtberg

  • Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi": The most expensive painting in the world has disappeared

  • Dispute over exhibition: Why the Louvre is not allowed to show all paintings by Leonardo da Vinci by Thomas Schmoll

However, there has long been doubt that the painting was created solely or primarily by Leonardo (1452-1519).

The subject of authorship of the painting re-emerged when the painting was not shown at a major Leonardo exhibition at the Louvre in 2019.

As reported in the documentary with reference to anonymous high-ranking employees of the French government, the scientific analysis results of the Louvre on the authorship of the painting aroused the displeasure of Saudi Arabian representatives.

Bin Salman demanded that "Salvator Mundi" be presented at the exhibition as "a hundred percent Leonardo" and hung next to his even more famous "Mona Lisa".

According to the film, however, French President Emmanuel Macron opposed bin Salman's demands.

Macron left it to the Louvre to negotiate with representatives of Saudi Arabia how the painting should be presented at the exhibition.

These negotiations would then have led to no result, which is why the painting was ultimately not shown.

cpa / afp

Source: spiegel

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