World’s ‘Most Expensive Painting’ Now in Saudi Prince’s Possession

After its sale for a record price of $450 million, the whereabouts of the ‘Salvator Mundi’, which is said to be painted by Leonardo da Vinci, has become one of the greatest mysteries of the art world.

Recently London based art expert Kenny Schachter has claimed to have solved the mystery in a write up for Art News, where he confessed that the painting is now in the possession of powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and the painting now resides on the gargantuan yacht owned by the Prince.

In the year 2017, the painting was last seen during its record-setting sale at the Christie’s. The painting, in which Jesus Christ is depicted emerging from darkness blessing the world with one hand while holding a transparent globe in the other was never in the past been exhibited in public, triggering doubts about its ownership, whereabouts, and authenticity.

Now, after the revelations of its whereabouts, many art experts are split over whether the painting is genuine, some saying it was not painted by the Italian master personally but was painted in one of his workshops.

According to a first report by the Wall Street Journal, the painting was bought by Saudi prince Badr bin Abdullah, who always acted in the name of the Saudi crown prince and is known by his initials MBS. Though Riyadh has never confirmed or denied that report.

Schachter in his column has written, “In the murky Middle Eastern waters nothing is quite crystal clear”, but citing several important sources including two involved in the sale, Schachter claims that the painting “was whisked away in the middle of the night on MBS’s plane and relocated to his yacht”.

Schachter also wrote that the painting will remain onboard the Saudi Crown Prince owned massive yacht till it is relocated to the Al-Ula governorate, which Saudi Arabia is planning to transform into a centre of culture and tourism.

The painting was originally found in shards and had to be reconstructed before its auction in the Christie’s.

Leonardo da Vinci was a genius who lived between 1452 to 1519 thereby giving us outstanding masterpieces defining various art forms. Leonardo da Vinci is among the most influential artists in the history of art who has left a significant legacy-defining art as science. Leonardo da Vinci’s lifetime is also regarded as the Renaissance age of art because of his contribution and experiments involving the art form.

Though most of his paintings depicted the religious scenes of the era such as the Magi and the Madonna and child. But there is always a unique touch in each of his paintings for example ‘The Last Supper’ in which he isolated Jesus Christ at the center of the scene and made each character in the painting a separate entity, yet at the same time united them all at the moment. His iconic ‘The Mona Lisa’ is an inspiration for the art enthusiasts of all time.