Leonardo da Vinci 1452 – 1519

Salvator Mundi

oil on panel (66 × 45 cm) — c. 1500
private collection

Leonardo da Vinci biography

The orb symbolizes the world, which literally is in the hand of Christ. With his other hand he blesses the spectator.

For many years, this work was either considered lost or attributed to Giovan Antonio Boltraffio, a pupil of Leonardo's. That changed when it was acquired by a group of American art dealers in 2005. They had it verified as a genuine Leonardo, and paid for the restoration.

In 2017 it was sold at an auction for $450 million. The panel has not been seen in public since then.

It is a walnut panel, probably painted between 1499 and 1519.

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