Doubt Has Been Cast on the Attribution of the World's Most Expensive Painting

The Salvador Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci sold at auction in 2017 at Christies New York for $450 million that smashed all previous records and absolutely stunned the art world.
At the time, the buyer's identity was shrouded in secrecy, but it was later revealed that, after very heated bidding, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (alias 'MBS') was the new owner.
Ben Lewis, who wrote The Last Leonardo has stated that the Saudis paid such a high price because they thought that they were bidding against another rival royal family from Qatar. The defeated under-bidder, however, was Chinese billionaire, Liu Yiqian.
After the piece sold, scholars have continued to debate the provenance of the portrait of Christ as merely "from the workshop" of Leonardo.
Soon after the sale of the painting, the Louvre announced that it asked to exhibit the Salvador Mundi in its retrospective show honoring da Vinci's 500th birthday. Privately, however, the museum decided to label it as "from the workshop" of Leonardo. In so doing, it would leave the Saudi owner publicly humiliated, as its value would go down to somewhere in the range of $1.5 million.
Mr. Lewis continued to say, "If a picture cannot show its face, that is really damning for the art world. It is almost like it has become the Saudi's latest political prisoner."
We still cannot unequivocally answer our former blog question: Who In The World (actually) Painted The Salvador Mundi?We can, however, answer our blog question: Where In The World Is The Salvador Mundi? The painting is said to be currently in a storage facility in Switzerland.

Popular posts from this blog

Caroline Ashleigh Appraisers & Auctioneers

Image
Caroline Ashleigh Appraisers & Auctioneers is an appraisal, auction, and consulting firm that provides services for private and corporate collectors, museums, galleries, law firms, insurance companies, and auction houses throughout the United States                                                                             Our Distinguished Clients: Celebrity Clients: Diana, Princess of Wales  Debby Reynolds American Actress Anna Moffo American Opera Singer Betty Buckley American Broadway Actress/Singer Nudie Cohn Celebrity Tailor Al Capone Estate - American Gangster James Dean Memorabilia Wynton Marsalis Jazz Musician Corporate Clients: Forbes Corporation Art Collection Kellogg Corporation Art Collection Dominos Corporation Art Collection Libby Glass Corporation Art and Glass Collection Fetzer Foundation Art, Antiques, and Sports Memorabilia Collection Kmart Corporation Art Collection Levi Strauss Corporation Dupont Museum Clients: Hollywood Motion Picture Museum - Los Angeles, C
Read more

Enticing New Clues About the Largest Unsolved Art Theft in History

Image
  Recently my colleague Anne Igelbrink shared the following enticing new information that has come to light regarding the largest unsolved art heist in history: "I vividly remember waking up as a Wellesley undergraduate in 1990 to hear of the staggering theft of paintings and objects from the Isabella Steward Gardner museum in Boston. It included this seascape by Rembrandt--the only one he is known to have painted--along with two other works as well as those by Vermeer, Degas and Chinese bronzes. Despite many leads and an excellent recent documentary on Netflix (This is a Robbery), nothing has ever been recovered and it remains the world's biggest art heist. However, another tantalizing clue has recently emerged as Robert Calantropo, a Boston area jewelry appraiser and childhood friend of Bobby Donati, one of the key suspects, has confessed that he was shown the Napoleonic eagle finial which was also stolen. Donati was murdered in 1991 but being an eternal optimist, I hope thi
Read more

Expert Caroline Ashleigh Reveals How Much Oscar is Worth and the Murky After-Market

Image
Hush-hush! Wanna buy an Oscar? Where are all of the Academy Awards that have gone missing? Is an Oscar cat burglar on the loose? Read Steve Rose's recent article in the Guardian UK to find out the some answers to those mysteries in his interview with veteran appraisal and celebrity memorabilia expert Caroline Ashleigh , AAA of Caroline Ashleigh Appraisers & Auctioneers https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/mar/15/pssst-wanna-buy-an-oscar-the-mysterious-case-of-the-missing-academy-awards
Read more