Da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" Sold for $450 Million — the Most Expensive Painting Ever

On November 15, 2017, Christie's auction house in New York sold a painting titled "Salvator Mundi" — attributed to Leonardo da Vinci — for $450.3 million. It is the most expensive painting ever sold at auction, surpassing the previous record (Picasso's "Les Femmes d'Alger") by nearly $300 million.

The Provenance

The painting's path is one of art history's strangest stories:

• Painted around 1500 by Leonardo and/or his workshop
• Owned by King Charles I of England in the 1640s
• Lost from the historical record for centuries
• Rediscovered in 2005 at a New Orleans estate auction, listed as a copy. Sold for $1,175
• The buyer suspected it might be authentic and spent years on restoration and authentication
• Authenticated as a Leonardo by major institutions in 2011
• Sold to a Russian oligarch in 2013 for $127.5 million
• Sold to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2017 for $450 million

The Authentication Controversy

Not all experts agreed it was a Leonardo. Many art historians have argued it was likely produced primarily by his workshop, with possible touches from the master himself. The painting has not been publicly displayed since the sale, fueling speculation. Its exact location and condition remain unknown.

Other Record-Breaking Sales

• "Interchange" by Willem de Kooning: $300 million (2015, private sale)
• "The Card Players" by Cézanne: $250 million (2011)
• "Number 17A" by Jackson Pollock: $200 million (2015)
• "Les Femmes d'Alger" by Picasso: $179.4 million (2015)

The Lesson

Authentication can transform a $1,175 estate-auction find into a $450 million masterpiece — a 38-million-percent return on investment. The lesson for collectors: provenance and connoisseurship matter more than provenance documents alone.