The work, which was recently rediscovered, depicts Jesus as the ‘saviour of the world’ and is believed to date from c.1490
Unusually for an Old Master painting, it will be offered as “a special lot” in Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale on November 15.
Explaining why it will be offered in a Contemporary art sale, Christie’s chairman of Post-War and Contemporary Art in New York Loic Gouzer said: “Despite being created approximately 500 years ago, the work of Leonardo is just as influential to the art that is being created today as it was in the 15th and 16th centuries. We felt that offering this painting within the context of our Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale is a testament to the enduring relevance of this picture.”
Recent history – a timeline
2005
The picture was spotted by an American dealer in an estate auction and bought for under $10,000.
2007
As the possibility of Leonardo's authorship emerged, the painting was shown to scholars in the autumn of 2007, including Mina Gregori of the University of Florence, Nicholas Penny, director of the National Gallery, and curators at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
2008
In May 2008, it was taken to London to be directly compared with Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks in the National Gallery.
2011
The 2ft 2in x 18in (66 x 45cm) oil on walnut panel later featured in an exhibition at the National Gallery in London as a new discovery of a work by Leonardo, becoming only one of 20 known surviving paintings generally accepted as from the artist’s own hand.
2013
The picture is understood to have been sold privately in an $80m deal brokered by Sotheby’s in 2013. The buyer was Swiss ‘Freeports’ baron Yves Bouvier, who then ‘flipped’ it to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for a sum reported to be over $120m.
2015
Bouvier and Rybolovlev became involved in an intense legal battle over a series of transactions. The case has lasted over the last two years, with Rybolovlev alleging he had been routinely overcharged. The allegations have been denied by Bouvier.
2017
Early in 2017, Christie’s sold a number of modern works from Rybolovlev’s collection including the Paul Gauguin landscape Te Fare (La Maison) that fetched £20.3m including premium. He is believed to have paid double this figure when he acquired it in June 2008.
Warhol and Leonardo in the same sale
‘Sixty Last Suppers’ by Andy Warhol which will be offered with a $50m estimate in the same Christie’s sale as the Leonardo.
At the same time as announcing the consignment of Salvator Mundi, Christie’s unveiled another top-end work that will be offered at the same sale. Andy Warhol's Sixty Last Suppers from 1986 will be offered with a $50m estimate.
The painting was produced the year before the artist’s death and was described by Christie’s chairman of Post-War and Contemporary Art in New York Alex Rotter as “the unequivocal masterpiece from Warhol’s late period”.
