The saga of Salvator Mundi and its whereabouts continues to be one of many artwork world’s greatest mysteries so any nugget of information referring to its destiny and site is eagerly seized on (by us primarily). The portray attributed to Leonardo da Vinci offered for $450m at Christie’s in New York in 2017, making it the world’s costliest murals. The work was bought by the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (or MBS as he’s been dubbed) although his identification was solely revealed to the general public by later press experiences. Salvator Mundi has not been seen in public for the reason that 2017 sale, regardless of Christie’s saying on the time of the public sale that it could go on show on the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
The BBC experiences at the moment that the elusive depiction of Christ is (drum roll) in storage in Geneva. Bernard Haykel, a good friend of the crown prince and Professor of Close to Jap Research at Princeton College, says that regardless of rumours that Salvator Mundi hangs within the prince’s yacht or palace, the portray is definitely in storage within the Swiss metropolis and that MBS intends to hold it in a museum in Riyadh that has not but been constructed. “I wish to construct a really giant museum in Riyadh,” Haykel quotes MBS as saying. “And I need an anchor object that may appeal to folks, identical to the Mona Lisa does.”
The BBC profile doesn’t maintain again, saying that “MBS’s buy of a well-known portray in 2017 tells us a lot about how he thinks, and his willingness to be a risk-taker, unafraid to be out of step with the religiously conservative society that he governs. And above all, decided to outplay the West in conspicuous shows of energy.”
Coincidentally, Hartwig Fischer, the previous director of the British Museum who resigned final 12 months after a devastating theft scandal, was lately appointed because the founding director of a brand new museum of world cultures in Riyadh, based on an announcement from the Saudi Museums Fee. The museum is because of open in 2026. Might the Leonardo work find yourself there, we surprise….
