Missing Da Vinci's $450 million masterpiece is on MbS' private yacht, art website says
Missing Da Vinci's $450 million masterpiece is on MbS' private yacht, art website says
Sources involved in the painting's purchase in 2017 claim the Leonardo Da Vinci 500-year-old masterpiece 'Salvator Mundi' is on board of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's yacht.
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The authenticity of 'Salvator Mundi' by Leonardo da Vinci has been called into question [Getty]
A Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece was sold for a record $450 million in 2017 to an unknown mystery buyer. It is now emerging that the "Salvator Mundi" could be in the possession of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
Artnet.com, citing two "principals involved in the transaction", reported Monday that the Da Vinci painting is being kept on board of superyacht Serene owned by the Saudi crown prince.
The New York Times has earlier reported that the painting was bought on behalf of bin Salman by another Saudi Prince in a 2017 Christie's auction.
The yacht's location, as of late May, was in the Red Sea off Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, according to Bloomberg.
The 500-year-old painting was allegedly gifted by bin Salman to Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi, for display in Louvre Abu Dhabi - as well the Louvre in Paris - for an upcoming exhibition marking 500 years after the death of Da Vinci.
The painting was then "pulled from both", according to Artnet.com.
The painting's authenticity as a creation of Leonardo da Vinci has been brought into question. The Louvre labeled the painting as "from the workshop of Leonardo", The Daily Telegraph reported in May, rendering "it all but worthless" and leaving "its Saudi owners humiliatied".
Artnet.com's sources claim the painting will remain on the yacht until the completion of Saudi cultural hub in al-Ula that is set to rival Abu Dhabi's Louvre and the new National Museum of its rival Qatar.
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