NEW YORK, USA – NOVEMBER 15: Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi painting is seen at the Christie’s in New York during its final day of viewing in New York, United States on November 15, 2017. (Photo by Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Saudi Arabia Refused to Lend the ‘Salvator Mundi’ to the Louvre Because It Wouldn’t Be Shown Next to the ‘Mona Lisa,’ a Report Says
Read the ArtNet Article here
https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/salvator-mundi-louvre-mona-lisa-1958303
The plot thickens around the Salvator Mundi, the world’s most expensive painting, and the mystery of why the Louvre didn’t include it in its blockbuster 2019 Leonardo da Vinci exhibition.
A new documentary film, The Savior for Sale, which premieres tomorrow night on French television, claims that according to anonymous French officials, the museum refused to acquiesce to Saudi Arabian demands that the work be displayed as an autograph Leonardo after scientific testing determined that the artist merely contributed to the painting. Read more here