Saudi prince revealed as buyer of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’

ARTNEWS
By Alex Greenberger

Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi, ca. 1500, sold for $450.3 million at Christie’s last month.

The buyer of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Salvator Mundi (ca. 1500), which as of last month is the most expensive artwork ever sold, is the Saudi prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud. The buyer’s identity, reported by the New York Times this evening, was discovered in the midst of an investigation into Saudi Arabia’s elite class, including Prince Bader’s family and associates, who have been criticized for their showy displays of wealth. Prince Bader is not well-known as an art collector. It had been speculated, however, that the buyer might have hailed from the Middle East, particularly following posts on social media earlier today announcing that the painting was making its way to the Louvre Abu Dhabi. [More]