Sold for over $450 million last December, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi made history as the most expensive painting to have ever been purchased. Today, the 500-year-old work is making history once again: as Da Vinci’s first ever work to be on permanent display in the Middle East.
Due to be unveiled on 18 September 18, the masterpiece by the Italian renaissance polymath displays a figurative image of Christ, and is one of the very few known works by Da Vinci.
“The Salvator Mundi highlights the inclusive nature of Louvre Abu Dhabi’s narrative and Abu Dhabi’s mission to promote a message of acceptance, and openness,” said Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism before adding, “It is an opportunity for Abu Dhabi’s residents and visitors from around the world to engage with a rare and iconic work of great cultural significance at Louvre Abu Dhabi. Lost and hidden for so long in private hands, Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece is now our gift to the world. It belongs to all of us, who will have the chance to stand before it, and bear witness to the mastery of one of the most significant artists in living history.”
