All interesting in art and beyond. Official: “Savior of the World” is the most expensive painting on the planet. The image of Jesus Christ was sold for half a billion dollars. A masterpiece from the royal collection.

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 amount of paint really made the painting look like a poorly executed copy, but when experts, with jewelry scrupulousness, cleaned it layer by layer, 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 to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts for research, the museum's curator refused to comment on the authenticity of the artifact. 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 this mixed assessment finds 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"

Salvator Mundi's theme to a greater extent characteristic of art Northern Renaissance, it is usually conveyed through a frontal image of Christ carrying Earth 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.

As soon as painting by Leonardo da Vinci"Salvator Mundi", the name of which is translated into Russian as "Savior of the World", was sold at auction for the fabulous sum of 450 million dollars, and passions flared up around it even greater than they had been burning before.

Some researchers, including the editor-in-chief of the President newspaper, scientist, excellent analyst and writer Andrei Tyunyaev, claim that this painting is a fake.

Firstly, the authors of such a loud statement claim that even the Russian translation of the title of the picture is not correct or, let’s say, too free. “Salvator Mundi” would be more accurately translated as “Ark at the Mountain.” That is, the author depicted Jesus Christ as an ark carrying both male and female sexual characteristics. By the way, from this faith in Europe, mental religious illness is increasingly spreading and lesbians and gays are breeding. And even this alone can serve as confirmation that the painting was painted no earlier than the 19th century.

Secondly, in the picture Christ is holding a glass ball - a spherical model of our Earth. According to experts, the painting “Salvator Mundi” was painted at the end of the 15th century; Leonardo da Vinci himself died in 1519. However, Nicolaus Copernicus’s work on the heliocentric system of the world (“On the Rotation of the Celestial Spheres”) was published only in 1543; moreover, it took centuries after this scientist’s publication before the Earth took on a spherical shape in the minds of scientists. After all, at that time, please note, Nicolaus Copernicus himself was depicted from the same perspective as Christ in “Salvator Mundi”. At the same time, Copernicus holds in his hand a flat model of the world, and Christ is already spherical, which Leonardo da Vinci could not simply know in principle, and therefore depict. The spherical model of the Earth became traditional only in the 18th century. 19th centuries. It is to this period that the writing of “The Savior of the World” can be attributed, from which it follows that the famous Italian artist had nothing to do with her...

However, such “convincing” reasoning does not in any way fit with the generally known data that Leonardo da Vinci drew drawings of helicopters, submarines, and recently, for example, in his drafts they also found drawings of a modern smartphone, from which some brave minds even made the assumption that famous artist and the scientist was a time traveler. If da Vinci painted helicopters in the 15th century, which would appear only in the middle of the 20th century, why couldn’t he depict a spherical Earth then?

Anyway, check out the video below where hidden camera The emotions of people looking at Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “Salvator Mundi” were filmed. Apparently, the impression she makes on the audience is amazing. And although this cannot serve as 100% proof that the painting is genuine, it is still not very convincing to talk about a fake...

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"Savior of the World" (Salvator Mundi) dates back to the year 1500: it is believed that this last work artist - a portrait image of the Savior holding with his left hand crystal ball, and with his right hand folded his fingers in blessing, was lost for a long time.

“For many years, until 2005, the painting was considered lost,” says Christie’s press release. “The first documentary mention of it is found in the inventory of the collection of King Charles I (1600-1649). It is believed that it decorated the chambers the king's wife, Henrietta Maria of France, at the royal palace at Greenwich, and was then inherited by Charles II the next time, according to the description. auction house, the painting was mentioned in 1763 - then it was put up for auction by Herbert Sheffield, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Buckingham.

The queue for Leonardo da Vinci's painting "Salvator Mundi" before the auction in New York, November 2017

Salvator Mundi then resurfaces in 1900, when it was acquired by Charles Robinson, but as the work of Bernardino Luini, one of Leonardo da Vinci's followers. “As a result of this, Salvator Mundi joins the collection of the Cook family, located in Richmond’s Doughty House,” continues Christie’s. “In 1958, when information about the royal provenance and authorship of Leonardo was lost, the painting went under the hammer during the auction Sotheby's for just £45, after which it is forgotten again for almost half a century."

In 2013, the painting was purchased for $127.5 million by Russian billionaire Dmitry with the help of Swiss dealer Yves Buvier.

He, in turn, bought it for $80 million at a private auction at Sotheby's auction house from three art dealers. One of them, as he claims, discovered the painting at a real estate auction eight years earlier and bought it for $10 million (then experts still it was assumed that this was the work of an artist from the school of Leonardo).

Now “Salvator Mundi” has been sold to an unknown buyer for an amount 45 times higher than what the unnamed art dealer paid in the early 2000s, while the original price of the painting, which Christie’s declared, was already $100 million.

Telephone bidding with six unknown buyers lasted 20 minutes. At the end, the audience burst into applause. Auction host Jusi Paikkanen said: “This is the zenith of my career as an auctioneer. There will never be another painting that I sell for more than this one tonight.”

Salvator Mundi actually broke the previous record that an Old Master painting had ever held. Previously, the most expensive work in this category was considered to be “The Massacre of the Innocents” by Rubens, which went under the hammer in 2002 for $76.7 million at Sotheby’s.

Crime and Punishment

Even the dubious circumstances associated with this painting and its previous owner Dmitry Rybolovlev and art dealer Yves Buvier did not affect the price. In 2013, when three dealers sold a painting through Sotheby's for $80 million, the Swiss sold it to a Russian businessman for $47.5 million more just a few days later. The sellers of the painting wrote to Sotheby's asking if they knew that the painting already had another buyer? Perhaps the auction representatives even showed Rybolovlev the work in advance?

Art dealers threatened to sue if it turned out that they were victims of fraud, and they were paid less for the painting than it was actually worth.

Representatives of the auction house took action, being the first to send this appeal to the Manhattan District Court to block the lawsuit: they said that they did not know that Buvier had already agreed with the billionaire, and he was already waiting for the “Savior of the World.”

Prince Albert II of Monaco and owner football club Monaco Dmitry Rybolovlev after the match in Monaco, 2014

In 2015, the Russian owner of the Monaco football club sued the art dealer Yves Buvier, accusing him of repeatedly inflating the prices of the works he sold, including a painting by Leonardo da Vinci: for 37 paintings famous masters the billionaire paid a total of $2 billion. Buvier denied everything, and Rybolovlev began to get rid of the work. In March, he sold works by Magritte, Rodin, Gauguin and Picasso, which he purchased from Buvier for $174 million. He received $43.7 million for them.

After Rybolovlev sued Buvier, he was detained in Monaco, after which he was released on bail of €10 million. After this, the art dealer stated that the legal system of Monaco acted in the interests of Rybolovlev. Indeed, in September 2017, the Minister of Justice of Monaco, Philippe Narmino, resigned after the French published an article that proved that the Russian billionaire was putting pressure on the countries. Buvier himself, in order to cover legal costs, had to sell part of the business associated with storage facilities for art objects.

Author, author!

Money issues aren't the only thing that's troubling about "Savior of the World." Many in the industry generally doubt that the painting belongs to Leonardo. New York critic Jerry Saltz published a column in Vulture ahead of the auction on November 14, in which he questioned the authenticity of “Savior of the World.”

Immediately wondering what Leonardo’s painting is doing at the auction “Post-War and modern Art“, he quotes one of the visitors: “The whole point is that 90% of this picture was created in the last 50 years.”

“The painting resembles someone’s version of a lost original, in addition, the X-rays show cracks, destruction of the paint layer, swollen wood, an erased beard and other details corrected in order to make this copy more similar to the original,” the portal quotes Jerry Saltz. Artguide".

Criticism also confuses the quality of the work itself.

He claims that great artist I had never painted portraits of people in such simple static poses, and even from the front; that there are 15-20 paintings by Leonardo da Vinci in the world, and not one of them is a “portrait” of the Savior; that the “golden ratio” rule used in the painting, which Christie’s marketing department refers to, is too obvious for the artist, who was at the peak of his fame in 1500.

In addition, Saltz was embarrassed by the large-scale marketing campaign launched by the auction house before the auction -

a luxurious 162-page booklet with quotes from Dostoevsky, Freud and Leonardo himself, advertising videos depicting enthusiastic spectators at the pre-auction show (among the spectators were celebrities, in particular, and).

“Be sure to watch the extended clip of three company employees promoting the painting to Hong Kong clients, describing it as “the holy grail of our business,” male image Mona Lisas of the last da Vinci, our brainchild, a real blockbuster, comparable to the discovery new planet, more valuable than an oil refinery,” writes Jerry Saltz (quoted from the Art Guide portal).

In addition to the painting by Leonardo da Vinci, the work “The Last Supper” was sold at auction - it went under the hammer for $60 million. The appearance of the works together was supposed to justify the fact that the painting by the old master is being sold at the “Post-War and Contemporary Art” auction, which traditionally brings home the biggest income. This time it amounted to $785 million.

Leonardo da Vinci. Savior of the world. Around 1500 Louvre in Abu Dhabi

At the end of 2017, the art world experienced a double shock. The work of . himself was put up for sale. And we can wait another 1000 years for such an event.

Moreover, it was sold for almost half a billion dollars. This is unlikely to ever happen again.

But behind this news, not everyone had time to take a good look at the painting “Savior of the World”* itself. But it is full of very interesting details.

Some of them say that the masterpiece was actually painted by Leonardo. Others, on the contrary, cast doubt on the fact that it was this genius who created it.

1. Sfumato

As you know, sfumato was invented by Leonardo. Thanks to him, the characters in the paintings evolved from painted dolls to almost living people.

He achieved this by realizing that in real world no lines. Which means they shouldn’t be in the picture either. The outlines of Leonardo's faces and hands became shaded, in the form of soft transitions from light to shadow. It was in this technique that his famous one was created.

There is also sfumato in The Savior. Moreover, it is hypertrophied here. We see the face of Jesus as if in a fog.

However, The Savior has been called the male version of the Mona Lisa. Partly because of the similarities. Here we can agree. The eyes, nose, and upper lip are similar.

And also because of sfumato. Although if you put them side by side, it immediately catches your eye that we see the face of the Savior as if through a thick fog.

Right: Mona Lisa (detail). 1503-1519

So this is a twofold detail. It seems that she is talking about the authorship of Leonardo. But it's too intrusive. It’s as if someone imitated the master, but went too far.

There is one more thing that unites “Mona Lisa” and “Savior”.

Leonardo was inclined to give his heroes androgynous features. His male characters have feminine characteristics. Just remember the angel in the painting “Madonna of the Rocks”. The Savior's facial features are also quite soft.

2. Ball as a symbol of our world

The most striking detail of the picture, besides the face of Jesus, is the glass ball.

To some, the ball in the hands of the Savior may seem unusual. After all, before Columbus discovered America in 1492, people believed that the Earth was flat. Did new knowledge spread so quickly throughout Europe?

After all, if you take other “Saviors” of that time, it becomes clear that the image is repeated. And German artists, and the Dutch.

Left: Dürer. Savior of the world (unfinished). 1505 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Right: Jos Van Der Beek. Savior of the world. 1516-1518 Louvre, Paris

The fact is that the sphericity of the Earth was known to the ancient Greeks. Educated Europeans were also convinced of this in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

We mistakenly believe that only with the voyage of Columbus did people realize their error. The theory of a flat Earth has always existed parallel to the theory of its sphericity.

Even now there will be those who will convince you that the Earth is a quadrangle covered with a dome.

Another remarkable detail is found in the hand that holds the ball.

On closer inspection we can see the pentimento. This is when the artist’s changes are visible to the naked eye.

Please note that the palm was originally smaller, but the master made it wider.

Experts believe that the presence of pentimento always indicates authorship.

But this is a double-edged sword. It is quite possible that the hand was written by a student. And Leonardo only corrected her.

3. Composition “Savior”

This is exactly the detail that speaks against the originality of the picture.

The fact is that you will not find a single portrait by Leonardo where he would depict the hero in a clear frontal view. His figures are always turned half-turn towards us. It doesn't matter if you take it early work or the latest one.

Leonardo did this on purpose. With a more complex pose, he tried to breathe life into his hero, giving the figures at least a little dynamics.

Left: Portrait of Ginevra Benci. 1476 National Gallery Washington. Right: Saint John the Baptist. 1513-1516 Louvre, Paris

4. Leonard's craftsmanship

As an anatomist, Leonardo was very good at the hands of those depicted. The right hand is indeed written very skillfully.

The clothes are also depicted in Leonardian style. Naturally, the folds of the shirt and sleeves are drawn out. Moreover, these details coincide with the master’s preliminary sketches, which are kept in Windsor Castle.

Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci. Around 1500 Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, London

It is enough to compare Leonardo’s “Savior” with the work of his student. The craftsmanship is immediately visible in the contrast.

5. Leonard's colors

In the National London gallery Leonard's "Madonna of the Rocks" is kept. It was this museum that was the first to recognize the originality of the “Savior of the World.” The fact is that the gallery staff had a compelling argument.

Analysis of the paint pigments of the “Savior” showed that it is absolutely identical to the paints of the “Madonna of the Rocks”.

Right: fragment of the painting “Madonna of the Rocks.” 1499-1508 National London Gallery.

Yes, despite the damage to the paint layer, the colors are truly masterfully chosen.

But this same fact easily proves something else. The painting was created by a student of Leonardo, who quite logically used the same colors as the master himself.

One can wonder for a long time whether Leonardo himself wrote “The Savior” from start to finish. Or he just corrected the brainchild of his student.

But over 500 years the painting was badly damaged. Moreover, the unfortunate owners painted on a beard and mustache for Jesus. Apparently, they were not satisfied with the androgynous appearance of the “Savior”.

As a result, in the mid-20th century it was sold at auction for $45. Her appearance was so deplorable.

But in the 2000s the painting was restored. After 6 years painstaking work. Having done everything possible to make it look like Leonardo's creation again.

Alas, in this case it is more likely the work of a restorer, rather than a master of the Renaissance.

*At the end of March 2019, media reports appeared that the painting had disappeared from a museum in Abu Dhabi. It is no longer on public display.

The world's leading art critics express their deepest regret, since not being able to see such a masterpiece is a great misfortune for art lovers.

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NEW YORK, November 16. /TASS/. Leonardo da Vinci's painting "Salvator Mundi" was sold on Wednesday at Christie's auction in New York for $400 million. As reported by The New York Times, along with royalties auction house the final price of the lot was $450.3 million.

According to the publication, the painting was sold by the trust fund of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, who in 2013 purchased it for $127.5 million from the Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier. The name of the new owner of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece has not been disclosed.

On a canvas measuring 64.5 cm by 44.7 cm, long considered lost, Christ is depicted in a sky-blue robe, right hand blessing, and holding a transparent ball with his left. Before the auction, the unique work was estimated at $100 million.

A masterpiece from the royal collection

As noted by Leonardo da Vinci expert Luc Sayson, the painting may have been painted for the French royal house and came to England after Charles I married the French princess Henrietta Maria in 1625. At the same time, master Vaclav Hollar, apparently on the queen’s orders, made an engraving from the canvas.

The painting was listed in the register royal collection, compiled the year after the execution of Charles I in 1649, was then sold at auction in 1651 and by 1666 had returned to the royal collection under Charles II. According to some reports, she was in personal account king. After 1763, traces of the painting were lost until it was acquired in 1900 in a badly damaged state for a private collection.

In 2007, the painting was restored at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. On next year a group of internationally recognized experts on the work of Leonardo da Vinci studied the painting at the National Gallery in London and compared the painting style with another famous work master "Madonna of the Rocks".

According to one group of experts, Salvator Mundi dates from the end of Leonardo da Vinci's Milanese period in the 1490s, when the master painted the famous " last supper"Another group of experts believes that the painting was painted somewhat later, in the 1500s, during the Florentine period of Leonardo da Vinci's work.