NEW YORK — A painting thought by scholars to be one of only a few by Leonardo da Vinci to have survived the centuries since his death was set to be auctioned Wednesday in New York, where it was guaranteed to sell for at least $100 million.
Art lovers have lined up by the thousands at special presale exhibitions in Hong Kong, San Francisco, London and New York to see the only work by the Renaissance master in private hands.
The 500-year-old oil painting depicting Christ holding a crystal orb, called “Salvator Mundi,” Italian for “Savior of the World,” is one of fewer than 20 paintings by Leonardo known to exist, according to Christie’s, the auction house conducting the sale.
“I can hardly convey how exciting it is for those of us directly involved in its sale,” said Christie’s specialist Alan Wintermute. “The word masterpiece barely begins to convey the rarity, importance and sublime beauty of Leonardo’s painting.”
Wintermute called it “the Holy Grail of old master paintings.” A backer of the auction guaranteed a bid of at least $100 million. Experts have said it might be worth more, except for its generally poor state of preservation and lingering questions about its authenticity.
The 26-inch-tall painting dates from around 1500 and shows Christ dressed in Renaissance-style robes, his right hand raised in blessing as his left hand holds a crystal sphere.
The painting’s history is as mysterious as Jesus’ enigmatic gaze, which invites comparison to a better-known Leonardo work, the “Mona Lisa.”
“Salvator Mundi” was owned by King Charles I of England in the mid-1600s and was auctioned by the son of the Duke of Buckingham in 1763.