Mohammed Bin Salman pressured bosses at the Louvre to lie about the authenticity of a supposed Leonardo da Vinci painting in order to save his own face, a new documentary alleges.
Some experts had pointed out that The Salvator Mundi (The Savior of the World) did not resemble any other works by the Italian master before the rediscovered “lost” work went under the hammer in 2017. But those doubts didn’t prevent the painting from selling for a world-record $450m at the Christie’s auction in New York.
And according to newly unearthed confidential files seen by The New York Times (NYT), the winning bidder was the Saudi Culture Ministry.
Missing work
The painting was originally discovered at a yard sale in New Orleans and attracted “vast public interest” after being identified as a da Vinci, says Forbes. Around 1,000 art collectors, dealers and onlookers packed into the Christie’s sale, and “120,000 art fans watched the auction via a Facebook live stream”, to see “art world history” being made, the news site continues.
But while the “extravagant” winning…
