Savior of the world Leonardo da Vinci description of the painting. A fake painting of Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" was bought for a record $450 million. A masterpiece from the royal collection

The painting "Savior of the World" was painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1499. The artist depicted Christ. Right hand he blesses all living ones, with his left hand he holds a symbolic Earth.
This is the only painting from Leonardo da Vinci's legacy that is in a private collection.
During the 17th – 19th centuries it was considered lost. Announced itself in 2004 at the Christie's auction, and was purchased by a collector antique paintings Robert Simon as the work of one of da Vinci's students.
In 2007, Simon approached the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a request to study the details of its creation.
Experts came to the conclusion that this work belongs to the brush of da Vinci.
After careful repeated double-checking, the assumption was confirmed.
In 2011, at an exhibition of works by Leonardo da Vinci, the public saw this painting for the first time.
In 2013, “Savior of the World” was again presented at auction - it was purchased by an art dealer from Switzerland, already with a confident note from Leonardo da Vinci, for $80 million, immediately resold to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for $127.5 million.
In November 2017, at a public auction in New York, the owner provided the opportunity to compete for this painting. It was sold for 450 million 312 thousand 500 dollars. The buyer remained unknown.

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Leonardo da Vinci's painting Savior of the World: description, biography of the artist, customer reviews, other works of the author. Large catalog of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci on the website of the BigArtShop online store.

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Leonardo da Vinci - Italian scientist, inventor, artist, writer.

Born into the family of a notary. Soon after the birth of his son, the father left the family, marrying rich woman. Leonardo was raised for the first years of his life by his mother, a simple peasant woman, then his father took the boy in with him. When Leonardo was 13 years old, his stepmother died. My father married again and became a widower again. He wanted to see his son continue his work, but Leonardo’s talent as an artist clearly manifested itself in his youth, and his father nevertheless sent him to Florence to the workshop of Andrea Verrocchio. In addition to sculpture, drawing, modeling, Leonardo masters humanitarian sciences, chemistry, drawing, metallurgy.

At the age of 20, Leonardo da Vinci received the qualification of a master, awarded to him by the Guild of St. Luke. His teacher Andrea del Verrocchio trusts the talented student to take part in his works and allows him to accept orders for paintings.

The next period of Leonardo's life is characterized by his fascination with the image of the Madonna.

In 1481, by order of the monastery of San Donato a Scopeto, Leonardo began work on the painting “The Adoration of the Magi.” Suddenly interrupting his work (Leonardo was inclined to abandon the work unfinished), the artist leaves Florence. The reason for his departure was the unfavorable attitude towards him of the Medici family, which was then in power.

Leonardo goes to Milan to the Sforza court. There he plays the lute and becomes known as the inventor of weapons.

In Milan, Leonardo begins to create his Treatise on Painting. This work lasted until the death of the genius.

In 1483 he received an order to paint the altar from the Franciscan brotherhood Immaculate Conception. He has been doing it for three years. An interesting fact is that he had to go to court regarding payment; the trial lasted 25 years.

Leonardo receives orders from Sforza: becoming a court artist, he paints portraits.

Da Vinci invents a rolling mill, a machine for producing files, and a machine for making cloth. Also during this period, Leonardo created sketches of temples and took part in the construction of the Milan Cathedral. He developed a city sewer system and carried out land reclamation work.

From 1495 to 1498 Leonardo worked on The Last Supper.

After the loss of power by the Sforzes in 1499, Leonardo returned to Florence.

In 1502, Leonardo became an architect and chief engineer in the service of Cesare Borgia. During this period, da Vinci designed canals to drain swamps and created military maps.

In 1503, work began on the portrait of Mona Lisa.

For the next decade, Leonardo wrote little, trying to devote more time to anatomy, mathematics and mechanics.

In 1513 Leonardo moved to Rome under the patronage of Giuliano de' Medici. Here, for three years, he studied mirror making, mathematics, researched the human voice, and created new paint formulations.

In 1517, after the death of the Medici, Leonardo became court artist in Paris. Here he works on land reclamation, hydrography and very often communicates with King Francis I.

At the age of 67, Leonardo da Vinci died. His body was buried in the church of Saint-Florent-ten, but the grave was lost during many years of war.

The texture of the canvas, high-quality paints and large-format printing allow our reproductions of Leonardo da Vinci to be as good as the original. The canvas will be stretched on a special stretcher, after which the painting can be framed in the baguette of your choice.

Leonardo da Vinci Salvator Mundi

At the London National Gallery, as part of the Leonardo exhibition, the painting “Savior of the World” will be shown to the public for the first time.for several centuriesconsidered lost. The discovery of this unique artifact was reported in June by an authoritative magazine Artnews, citing a statement by Robert Simon, a dealer included in the pool of painting owners. They managed to purchase this work in 2004 at an auction whose name was not disclosed, for an unknown amount. In July of this year, Simon issued a press release stating that after numerous examinations, a number of scientists believe that the authorship of the painting belongs to Leonardo da Vinci. The dealer also said that this particular painting is the missing original, from which the artist’s students made copies and engravings.

The stunning news seemed to divide the art world into two camps: some art historians and critics compare this find to the discovery of a planet, others are at least wary of it. An employee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who prefers not to advertise his name, single-handedly confirmed the authenticity of “Savior of the World” to Artnews. According to him, initially a large number of The paint really made the painting look like a poorly executed copy, but when the experts peeled it off layer by layer with jewelry scrupulousness, an amazingly delicate painting was revealed to them and there was no doubt left: in front of them was a long-lost original.

However, when the painting was submitted for research to the Boston Museum fine arts, the museum's curator declined to comment on the artifact's authenticity. Another famous art historian, an expert in da Vinci’s technique, Carlo Pedretti, not only does not believe in the authenticity of “The Savior,” but even considers the whole story of the discovery of the canvas a “sophisticated marketing operation.”

In his opinion, only a pale semblance is passed off as the real da Vinci, the work of one of his students, and not the most talented ones at that. At the end of the article published in the official newspaper of the Vatican, the famous art critic and curator calls not to chase chimeras like “the next “Savior,” but to simply look at the painting to understand that it does not belong to the brush of the great painter.

Despite such an ambiguous assessment of the find in the press, many scientists specializing in the work of da Vinci recognized the authenticity of the painting, which allowed the National Gallery in London to exhibit her along with the recognized masterpieces of the painter.

Leonardo da Vinci "Lady with an Ermine"

It is interesting that the authenticity of one of the paintings presented at the exhibition, “Ladies with an Ermine”, is also for a long time was considered controversial, but over time it gained public acceptance.

Undoubtedly, the inclusion of this painting in the exhibition dedicated to the Milanese period of da Vinci’s work will strengthen the position of the painting in the art world. However, it is unclear why laboratory studies, such as spectrography, whichwould justify the loud statements of experts and without which any assessments seem unfounded.

Albrecht Durer "Self-Portrait"

The theme of Salvator Mundi is more characteristic of art Northern Renaissance, it is usually conveyed through a frontal image of Christ carrying the globe in one hand and blessing humanity with the other. Artists such as Jan Van Eyck, Dürer, Titian, El Greco and others turned to this motif. At the end of his life, Leonardo also painted this plot, as evidenced by the description of the painting by the “father of art criticism” Giorgio Vasari, as well as numerous drawings and sketches by da Vinci himself and engravings of his students. To date, only 15 works of the great genius are known, which makes a find of this kind priceless.

The other day there was to be an auction, the most important lot of which was Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “Savior of the World”. The canvas was called “the biggest discovery of the 21st century”, “Male Mona Lisa”. The story of its discovery can be called almost detective.

Leonardo da Vinci wrote "Salvator Mundi" ("Savior of the World") around 1500. At first it belonged to King Charles I of England, as evidenced by entries in the inventory books of that time. Then traces of the canvas were lost. The painting was discovered only in the middle of the twentieth century, but art historians unanimously declared that this was not an original by da Vinci, but the work of one of his students. The manner of depicting Jesus' face and hair did not correspond to Leonardo's technique.

Because of this, at Christie's auction this painting went under the hammer for just £45. In 2004, Robert Simon, an expert and connoisseur of antique paintings, became its new owner. It was he who began to have doubts about the “Savior of the world.”

Restorer Dianne Dwyer Modestini recalls the trepidation with which she removed the top layers of paint on the painting in 2007: “My hands were shaking. I walked home and didn’t know if I was crazy.”.

Renaissance expert Martin Kemp noted: “It was very clear that this was the same person who created the Mona Lisa. This is such a supernatural whirlwind, as if hair is a living, moving substance or water, as Leonardo wrote about hair.”.

The painting “Savior of the World” at Christie’s auction house. | Photo: dailymail.co.uk.

"Savior of the world" is last picture Da Vinci, which is in a private and not a museum collection. The current owner of the painting, Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, plans to fetch at least $100 million for it.

MOSCOW, November 16— RIA Novosti, Anna Mikhailova. An unknown buyer paid almost half a billion dollars for the last painting by the great Leonardo da Vinci remaining in private hands. The sale of the painting “Savior of the World,” which previously belonged to Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev, was preceded by a PR campaign unprecedented in the art world: a month before the auction auction house Christie's sent the painting on a real tour. Crowds lined up in Hong Kong, San Francisco, London and New York to see the “discovery of the century.” Conservative art dealers also turned to modern technologies: a series of videos about the unique work of art appeared on YouTube.

Russian trace

Posted by Christie's (@christiesinc) Nov 15, 2017 at 8:16 PST

Everything about this sale was unusual, starting with the choice of auction: “Savior of the World” was exhibited in the post-war and contemporary art, which is strange for a painting dating from around 1499. Thus, Christie's tried to raise the starting price of the canvas, because in last years major collectors focused on 20th-century art, and Old Masters auctions attracted less and less money and attention.

Still, for a genuine da Vinci, the original price (estimate) remained quite modest - $100 million. Most likely, the reason is that the history of ownership of the painting (provenance) is very vague.

The last owner of the "Savior of the World" was Russian businessman and collector Dmitry Rybolovlev, who found himself in the center a couple of years ago loud scandal. The former owner of Uralkali accused his Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier of fraud - he purchased works of art for Rybolovlev’s collection at real cost, and resold them to the customer at a huge markup. For example, Bouvier bought “Savior of the World” for $80 million, and Rybolovlev paid 127.5 million for the painting.

As a result, the businessman accused the dealer of overpaying twice for his collection. Now between Rybolovlev and Bouvier there are litigation, and the unlucky collector is gradually selling off the scandalous collection.

From 45 pounds to 450 million dollars

Posted by Christie's (@christiesinc) Nov 15, 2017 at 9:43 PST

Rybolovlev's motives for selling "Savior of the World" are clear: he needed money. And the result, presumably, exceeded expectations. Now it will be difficult for a businessman to prove in court that he was left at a loss after transactions with Bouvier. Back in 1958, when the canvas first appeared at Sotheby's auction, but was not yet attributed to da Vinci, the seller managed to get only 45 pounds for it.

The painting was first mentioned in official documents only in the 17th century. According to a study by the ArtWatch organization, further transitions of the “Savior of the World” from one owner to another over the next four centuries are confirmed by rather vague formulations: “possibly acquired”, “probably belongs to a descendant”, “presumably brought the painting with him to England” , "perhaps handed down by inheritance."

Thus, the fate of the painting can be traced back to 1900, when, severely damaged by inept “additions,” it ended up in the collection of the English baronet Frederick Cook.

In 2004, the painting was purchased by a group of art dealers and sent for restoration. Details were not disclosed, but after restoration, the “Savior of the World” underwent several examinations in museums in Europe and the USA. Only the London National Gallery decided to recognize da Vinci as the author of the painting. In 2011, “Salvator Mundi” was presented at their exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci: Artist of the Milan Court” as a “discovery of the century.”

The Da Vinci Code

Posted by Christie's (@christiesinc) Oct 12, 2017 at 12:15 pm PDT

Today there are only about 20 paintings that are known for certain to have been painted by da Vinci. If you do not go into the intricacies of examinations and analysis of provenance, the belonging of “Savior of the World” to their number raises doubts - and there are several reasons for this.

Influential art critic and New York Magazine columnist Jerry Saltz cites the most significant ones.

Firstly, there are no sketches proving that da Vinci worked on something so atypical for him, completely frontal image the face of Jesus.

Secondly, there is no evidence that da Vinci even received an order for this painting: in those years the master, known for his leisurely work on paintings, was busy with mathematical research and several large paintings, including the legendary Mona Lisa.

Finally, the famous German expert on the work of Leonardo Frank Zollner made serious arguments in favor of the fact that “Salvator Mundi” is not a painting by da Vinci himself, but the work of students of his workshop. However, Zollner's findings were never included in Christie's catalog materials.

The simplest and most convincing way to dispel doubts would be to conduct a thorough technical and chemical examination, fortunately modern technologies have made great progress in this area. However, this is exactly what Christie's did not do, putting at risk not only the reputation of the prestigious auction house, but also the entire art business. After all, if new owner The “Savior of the World” will discover that he paid 450 million for the work of an apprentice, the art market will collapse.

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What other secrets did the legendary master encrypt in his works?

website invites you to discover amazing world great artist.

1. Error in the painting Salvator Mundi (“Savior of the World”)

If you look closely at the picture, you will notice that the sphere in Jesus’ hands is transparent. But who, if not Leonardo, who studied optics inside and out, should have known that the background behind the crystal sphere cannot be like that. It should enlarge and become fuzzy. For what great artist made such a mistake, it is not known for certain.

2. Amazing fact about the Last Supper

What can unite Judas and Jesus in this painting? There is a parable according to which the sitter for both was the same person. Unfortunately, information about who it was exactly has not reached our days.

However, according to legend, da Vinci found his Jesus in the church choir, where he served as a singer. Later, when the fresco was almost completed and the master could not find anyone for the image of Judas, Leonardo noticed a very drunk man with footprints in a ditch. wild life on the face. When da Vinci completed the image of Judas, the sitter admitted that he was familiar with this image and that he posed for the artist as Jesus 3 years ago.

3. Another amazing fact about The Last Supper

Another interesting nuance of this fresco. An overturned salt shaker lies next to Judas.. I wonder what this fact may be a clear example of the belief that spilled salt brings disaster. After all, the canvas depicts the moment when Jesus says that one of those gathered will betray him.