Brand New!! Leonardo Da Vinci Sets Novel Tape For The Virtually Expensive Icon E'er Sold At Auction

The auction sale of Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi at Christies New York yesterday is odd for a issue of reasons - the nature of the sale, the toll it went for too the history of the painting

This post service is for those who relish their fine art history too includes reference links to other to a greater extent than in-depth articles virtually the painting.

Salvator Mundi (c.1500) past times Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) 
25⅞ x xviii inward (65.7 x 45.7 cm).
Sold on fifteen Nov 2017 at Christie’s inward New York

Here's my summary - each department is followed past times referenced to about of the articles which comment inward to a greater extent than depth on the ikon too the auction

The Auction Sale

• The concluding hammer toll shattered the earth tape for a sale of an artwork at auction. The ikon sold for $400 1000000 (at a cost of $450,312,500 to the buyer after y'all include the auction line of piece of occupation solid premium). That equates to a cost to the buyer of £342,182,751.
• It exceeded the previous highest valued ikon at auction past times to a greater extent than than $200 million
• It was real unusually sold at an eve auction of Post-War too Contemporary Art - because it's at eve sales where wealthy fine art collectors purchase their art

“By putting it inward a contemporary sale, they smooth a big lite on the painting.”

• Almost 30,000 people viewed the ikon equally it was displayed to the world inward The ikon was demo to the world inward Hong Kong, London, San Francisco too New York. It's the real showtime fourth dimension the ikon has been shown to the world inward Asia or the Americas.
• It was billed equally "The Last Da Vinci", the "Male Mona Lisa", a "once inward a lifetime sale" too the “Holy Grail” for elite collectors
• The auction line of piece of occupation solid was too then confident that it would sell for a high toll that it had guaranteed a toll of $100 million
• The bidding lasted nineteen minutes alongside 4 bidders on the band too 1 inward the room. The lastly bid jumped $30 1000000 to closed out the auction!
• The comments on the Facebook Live Stream of the sale make for interesting too somewhat predictable reading
• Nobody knows who the successful bidder was. It's probable to stay inward soul hands.

They made a cinema of people viewing the ikon prior to the sale.



Reference

• Salvator Mundi: This is your solely endangerment to purchase a genuine Leonardo Da Vinci painting | The Independent
• Contemporary Art Sales: Do I Hear $100 Million? | New York Times
• Leonardo da Vinci Painting Sells for $450.3 Million, Shattering Auction Highs | New York Times
• Why Christie’s Put a Rare Leonardo da Vinci inward a Contemporary Auction | New York Times
• Da Vinci Goes on the Block for $100 Million | Wall Street Journal
• Leonardo da Vinci ikon sells for $450m at auction, corking records | The Guardian

The history of the painting

In terms of fine art history:

• the 26 inch tall ikon of Christ inward a bluish robe belongings an orb dates dorsum to c.1500 
• the championship way "Saviour of the World"
• the valuation too the toll achieved reflects the extreme rarity of paintings past times Leonardo da Vinci- at that topographic point are believed to live solely xx inward existence
• all the paintings - apart from Salvator Mundi - are inward museum collections
• the ikon was originally business office of the collection of King Charles II
• subsequently it disappeared too when it returned it was attributed to his follower Bernardino Luini.
• It's been reported that “Salvator Mundi” was auctioned inward 1958 for 45 pounds, which translates to virtually $125 today
• It disappeared for about other l years too resurfaced inward Louisiana inward 2005.
• The ikon was bought past times Robert Simon (a novel York based da Vinci skillful too fine art collector) too fine art dealer Alexander Parish for $10,000
• The confusion equally to who had originally painted it was caused past times the layers of over-painting it had experienced over the years.
• after much restoration, interrogation too review it was declared to live a da Vinci too was exhibited at the National Gallery inward 2011 which, inward effect, restored it to a recognised da Vinci ikon too assigned it a novel valuation.

Crucially, its commercial value has been underpinned past times its inclusion inward Putting a Price on Leonardo | New York Times (2014)

Leonardo’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ — 500 years inward the life of an especial painting | Financial Times

Sotheby’s Tries to Block Suit Over a Leonardo Sold too Resold at a Big Markup | New York Times (2016)

Did Leonardo da Vinci pigment the Salvator Mundi? | The Telegraph (2011)

The restoration of 'Salvator Mundi'

• The restoration of the ikon was started inward 2007 too lasted vi years. The project was given to Dianne Dwyer Modestini, a professor of paintings conservation at New York University

The inclusion of Salvator Mundi inward the National Gallery’s landmark 2011-12 exhibition of Leonardo’s surviving paintings — the most consummate display of such plant e'er held — sealed its credence equally a fully autograph operate past times Leonardo da Vinci

• a pentimento - traces of an before ikon - were flora using X-ray. This suggested that the seat of the pollex had been changed. It's the variety of particular y'all don't tend to detect inward copies
• The ikon was too painted on walnut using “many real sparse layers of almost translucent paint”. This is real much inward the trend of other da Vinci pieces.

Reference

• How a Priceless da Vinci Masterwork Disappeared from View for Centuries | History
• The incredible even out of how the lastly known operate of Leonardo da Vinci was almost lost forever | Quartz

and finally......

The allure of Leonardo has already inspired Paramount to purchase the cinema rights to Walter Isaacson’s newly published biography of the Italian Renaissance artist, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio equally the lead. New York Times

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