Louvre says $450m painting is not by Leonardo after all

Salvator Mundi is the subject of a new French TV documentary

Henry Samuel

April 11 2021 02:30 AM

The world’s most expensive work of art, Salvator Mundi, was not painted by Leonardo da Vinci — he “only contributed” to it, say senior French political sources in an upcoming documentary.

There has been heated debate about the authenticity of the painting since it was bought for $450m (€380m) by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, in 2017. Its previous owners had bought it a decade earlier for a little over $1,000 (€840).

Called a genuine Leonardo and “the male Mona Lisa” by Christie’s in New York, questions over its origins grew louder two years ago after it failed to appear in the Louvre’s big exhibition to mark the 500th anniversary of his death.

In The Saviour for Sale, a documentary by Antoine Viktine due to be shown on French TV this Tuesday, a government official, codenamed “Jacques”, says scientific examination, done in secret at the Louvre, concluded Leonardo “only contributed” to the painting, and that its “authenticity” could not be confirmed.

The work had arrived in Paris in June 2019 from New York and was expected to play a starring role in the exhibition. It was at the Louvre for three months, according to Jacques.

“The painting went under a number of machines and it was X-rayed all over. Vincent Delieuvin [a curator at the Louvre] brought together all sorts of international specialists, and at the end the verdict was revealed: the scientific evidence was that Leonardo da Vinci only made a contribution to the painting. There was no doubt. And so, we informed the Saudis.”

The news was not taken well. “MBS laid down very clear conditions: show the Salvator Mundi beside the Mona Lisa without any other explanation, present it as 100pc Leonardo.”

The French culture and foreign ministers lobbied for France to accept the terms. “They were interested in all the projects the Saudis were waving in front of us,” Jacques says.

“My position, which I communicated to the highest level, was that... exhibiting it on their terms would have been laundering a work at $450m.”