{"id":374249,"date":"2017-11-16T06:40:36","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T06:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=374249"},"modified":"2017-11-16T06:04:15","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T06:04:15","slug":"leonardo-da-vinci-artwork-sells-for-record-450m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/11\/leonardo-da-vinci-artwork-sells-for-record-450m\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Leonardo da Vinci artwork’ sells for record $450m"},"content":{"rendered":"
A 500-year-old painting of Christ believed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci has been sold in New York for a record $450m (\u00a3341m).<\/p>\n
The painting is known as Salvator Mundi (Saviour of the World).<\/p>\n
It is the highest auction price for any work of art and brought cheers and applause at the packed Christie’s auction room.<\/p>\n
Leonardo da Vinci died in 1519 and there are fewer than 20 of his paintings in existence.<\/p>\n
Just one is thought to be in private hands – the Salvator Mundi, believed to have been painted sometime after 1505.<\/p>\n
The final bid for the work was $400m, with fees bringing the full price up to $450.3m. The unidentified buyer was involved in a bidding contest, via telephone, that lasted nearly 20 minutes.<\/p>\n
The painting shows Christ with one hand raised, the other holding a glass sphere.<\/p>\n
In 1958 it was sold at auction in London for $60. By then the painting was generally reckoned to be the work of a follower of Leonardo and not the work of Leonardo himself.<\/p>\n