Can you understand what is wrong in this painting by Leonardo da Vinci? Official: “Savior of the World” is the most expensive painting on the planet. The image of Jesus Christ was sold for half a billion dollars. Leonardo da Vinci’s Savior

He has already been nicknamed the Male Mona Lisa, and he is what Christie's declares to be "the biggest discovery of the 21st century."
A New York auction house this morning unveiled its previously secret and "most exciting acquisition to date": Salvator Mundi (Salvator Mundi), a previously lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci that is believed to be the artist's last painting. "Salvator Mundi is the holy grail of artistic discovery," said Alex Rotter, Christie's co-chairman.

The painting is one of a few - there are only about 15 Da Vinci paintings known to exist. (To understand the importance of this event in the art world, imagine that the last time Da Vinci was discovered was 1909.)

It was hidden behind Christie's opaque sliding glass doors until it was announced - an invitation to a press conference "You are invited to the first ever openingan unprecedented masterpiece" (“You are invited to a first-ever unveiling of AN UNPRECEDENTED MASTERPIECE”)was written under a giant question mark in a gilded frame.The painting originally hung in the collection of King Charles I and depicted the blessed Jesus Christ, dressed in azure robes and holding an orb, one arm extended upward; The Mona Lisa was painted around the same time.

Salvator Mundi first appeared in 2005 (it sold at Sotheby's for £45 in 1958) and was presented at the National Gallery in London in 2011; the director of the National Gallery called its arrival "an event greater than the discovery of a new planet."

Immediately after today's press conference, the film will tour the world, appearing in Hong Kong, San Francisco and London, before returning to New York, where it will be exhibited​​for auction.

Of the 15 Da Vinci paintings currently known, Salvator Mundi is the only one in private hands. It will be sold at Christie's auction, and the estimated price is $100 million. “Who will buy it?” - said Guzer. “Who knows. But there would be no Louvre without the Mona Lisa, and there would probably be no Paris without the Louvre; whoever buys it will perpetuate his name, his collection, most likely, and probably his city.”

The other day there was to be an auction, the most important lot of which was Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “Savior of the World”. The canvas was called “the biggest discovery of the 21st century”, “Male Mona Lisa”. The story of its discovery can be called almost detective.

Leonardo da Vinci wrote "Salvator Mundi" ("Savior of the World") around 1500. At first it belonged to King Charles I of England, as evidenced by entries in the inventory books of that time. Then traces of the canvas were lost. The painting was discovered only in the middle of the twentieth century, but art historians unanimously declared that this was not an original by da Vinci, but the work of one of his students. The manner of depicting Jesus' face and hair did not correspond to Leonardo's technique.

Because of this, at Christie's auction this painting went under the hammer for just £45. In 2004, Robert Simon, an expert and connoisseur of antique paintings, became its new owner. It was he who began to have doubts about the “Savior of the world.”

Restorer Dianne Dwyer Modestini recalls the trepidation with which she removed the top layers of paint on the painting in 2007: “My hands were shaking. I walked home and didn’t know if I was crazy.”.

Renaissance expert Martin Kemp noted: “It was very clear that this was the same person who created the Mona Lisa. This is such a supernatural whirlwind, as if hair is a living, moving substance or water, as Leonardo wrote about hair.”.

The painting “Savior of the World” at Christie’s auction house. | Photo: dailymail.co.uk.

Salvator Mundi is the last Da Vinci painting to be in a private rather than museum collection. The current owner of the painting, Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, plans to fetch at least $100 million for it.

Culture

If you look at the crystal sphere, you can see that it is completely transparent. However, in reality, such a sphere will enlarge and “blur” the background, rather than make it transparent.

According to the latest research, such a mistake is an anomaly for the Italian genius.

But what is even more puzzling to experts is that da Vinci studied optics in detail, to the point of obsession, and how light is reflected and refracted.

There is an assumption that the artist deliberately ignored this realistic aspect in favor of the symbolic aspect in order to convey a certain message.

There are only two reasons for this error, experts say. Either Leonardo simply did not want the image of the sphere to distract from the rest of the picture, or he was trying to convey the wonderful essence of Christ in this way.

The secrets of da Vinci's paintings

It is worth noting that in September 2017, a painting of a nude woman was found that is very similar to the Mona Lisa. Experts believe that at least part of this painting was created by Leonardo da Vinci.

The drawing was made using charcoal and is called "Monna Vanna". It is believed that the artist prepared this painting for oil paints, but did not have time. Experts have been studying the work for several months, but it is very fragile, which slows down its study.

Leonardo da Vinci. Savior of the world. Around 1500 Louvre in Abu Dhabi

At the end of 2017, the art world experienced a double shock. The work of . himself was put up for sale. And we can wait another 1000 years for such an event.

Moreover, it was sold for almost half a billion dollars. This is unlikely to ever happen again.

But behind this news, not everyone had time to take a good look at the painting “Savior of the World”* itself. But it is full of very interesting details.

Some of them say that the masterpiece was actually painted by Leonardo. Others, on the contrary, cast doubt on the fact that it was this genius who created it.

1. Sfumato

As you know, sfumato was invented by Leonardo. Thanks to him, the characters in the paintings evolved from painted dolls to almost living people.

He achieved this by realizing that there are no lines in the real world. Which means they shouldn’t be in the picture either. The outlines of Leonardo's faces and hands became shaded, in the form of soft transitions from light to shadow. It was in this technique that his famous one was created.

There is also sfumato in The Savior. Moreover, it is hypertrophied here. We see the face of Jesus as if in a fog.

However, The Savior has been called the male version of the Mona Lisa. Partly because of the similarities. Here we can agree. The eyes, nose, and upper lip are similar.

And also because of sfumato. Although if you put them side by side, it immediately catches your eye that we see the face of the Savior as if through a thick fog.

Right: Mona Lisa (detail). 1503-1519

So this is a twofold detail. It seems that she is talking about the authorship of Leonardo. But it's too intrusive. It’s as if someone imitated the master, but went too far.

There is one more thing that unites “Mona Lisa” and “Savior”.

Leonardo was inclined to give his heroes androgynous features. His male characters have feminine characteristics. Just remember the angel in the painting “Madonna of the Rocks”. The Savior's facial features are also quite soft.

2. Ball as a symbol of our world

The most striking detail of the picture, besides the face of Jesus, is the glass ball.

To some, the ball in the hands of the Savior may seem unusual. After all, before Columbus discovered America in 1492, people believed that the Earth was flat. Did new knowledge spread so quickly throughout Europe?

After all, if you take other “Saviors” of that time, it becomes clear that the image is repeated. Both German and Dutch artists.

Left: Dürer. Savior of the world (unfinished). 1505 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Right: Jos Van Der Beek. Savior of the world. 1516-1518 Louvre, Paris

The fact is that the sphericity of the Earth was known to the ancient Greeks. Educated Europeans were also convinced of this both in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance.

We mistakenly believe that only with the voyage of Columbus did people realize their error. The theory of a flat Earth has always existed parallel to the theory of its sphericity.

Even now there will be those who will convince you that the Earth is a quadrangle covered with a dome.

Another remarkable detail is found in the hand that holds the ball.

On closer inspection we can see the pentimento. This is when the artist’s changes are visible to the naked eye.

Please note that the palm was originally smaller, but the master made it wider.

Experts believe that the presence of pentimento always indicates authorship.

But this is a double-edged sword. It is quite possible that the hand was written by a student. And Leonardo only corrected her.

3. Composition “Savior”

This is exactly the detail that speaks against the originality of the picture.

The fact is that you will not find a single portrait by Leonardo where he depicts the hero in a clear frontal view. His figures always turn half a turn towards us. It doesn't matter whether you take the earliest job or the latest one.

Leonardo did this on purpose. With a more complex pose, he tried to breathe life into his hero, giving the figures at least a little dynamics.

Left: Portrait of Ginevra Benci. 1476 National Gallery Washington. Right: Saint John the Baptist. 1513-1516 Louvre, Paris

4. Leonard's craftsmanship

As an anatomist, Leonardo was very good at the hands of those depicted. The right hand is indeed written very skillfully.

The clothes are also depicted in Leonardian style. Naturally, the folds of the shirt and sleeves are drawn out. Moreover, these details coincide with the master’s preliminary sketches, which are kept in Windsor Castle.

Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci. Around 1500 Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, London

It is enough to compare Leonardo’s “Savior” with the work of his student. The craftsmanship is immediately visible in the contrast.

5. Leonard's colors

The National Gallery in London houses Leonard's Madonna of the Rocks. It was this museum that was the first to recognize the originality of the “Savior of the World.” The fact is that the gallery staff had a compelling argument.

Analysis of the paint pigments of the “Savior” showed that it is absolutely identical to the paints of the “Madonna of the Rocks”.

Right: fragment of the painting “Madonna of the Rocks”. 1499-1508 National London Gallery.

Yes, despite the damage to the paint layer, the colors are truly masterfully chosen.

But this same fact easily proves something else. The painting was created by a student of Leonardo, who quite logically used the same colors as the master himself.

One can wonder for a long time whether Leonardo himself wrote “The Savior” from start to finish. Or he just corrected the brainchild of his student.

But over 500 years the painting was badly damaged. Moreover, the unfortunate owners painted on a beard and mustache for Jesus. Apparently, they were not satisfied with the androgynous appearance of the “Savior”.

“Savior of the World” (Salvator Mundi) dates back to 1500: it is believed that this last work of the artist - a portrait image of the Savior holding a crystal ball with his left hand and clasping his fingers in blessing with his right - was lost for a long time.

“For many years, until 2005, the painting was considered lost,” says Christie’s press release. “The first documentary mention of it is found in the inventory of the collection of King Charles I (1600-1649). It is believed that it decorated the chambers the king's wife, Henrietta Maria of France, at the royal palace at Greenwich, and was then inherited by Charles II.'' The next time, according to the auction house's description, the painting was mentioned was in 1763, when it was put up for auction by Herbert Sheffield, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Buckingham.

The queue for Leonardo da Vinci's painting "Salvator Mundi" before the auction in New York, November 2017

Salvator Mundi then resurfaces in 1900, when it was acquired by Charles Robinson, but as the work of Bernardino Luini, one of Leonardo da Vinci's followers. “As a result of this, Salvator Mundi joins the collection of the Cook family, located in Richmond’s Doughty House,” continues Christie’s. “In 1958, when information about the royal provenance and authorship of Leonardo was lost, the painting was auctioned Sotheby's for just £45, after which it is forgotten again for almost half a century."

In 2013, the painting was purchased for $127.5 million by Russian billionaire Dmitry with the help of Swiss dealer Yves Buvier.

He, in turn, bought it for $80 million at a private auction at Sotheby's auction house from three art dealers. One of them, as he claims, discovered the painting at a real estate auction eight years earlier and bought it for $10 million (then experts still it was assumed that this was the work of an artist from the school of Leonardo).

Now “Salvator Mundi” has been sold to an unknown buyer for an amount 45 times higher than what the unnamed art dealer paid in the early 2000s, while the original price of the painting, which Christie’s declared, was already $100 million.

Telephone bidding with six unknown buyers lasted 20 minutes. At the end, the audience burst into applause. Auction host Jusi Paikkanen said: “This is the zenith of my career as an auctioneer. There will never be another painting that I sell for more than this one tonight.”

Salvator Mundi actually broke the previous record that an Old Master painting had ever held. Previously, the most expensive work in this category was considered to be “The Massacre of the Innocents” by Rubens, which went under the hammer in 2002 for $76.7 million at Sotheby’s.

Crime and Punishment

Even the dubious circumstances associated with this painting and its previous owner Dmitry Rybolovlev and art dealer Yves Buvier did not affect the price. In 2013, when three dealers sold a painting through Sotheby's for $80 million, the Swiss sold it to a Russian businessman for $47.5 million more just a few days later. The sellers of the painting wrote to Sotheby's asking if they knew that the painting already had another buyer? Perhaps the auction representatives even showed Rybolovlev the work in advance?

Art dealers threatened to sue if it turned out that they were victims of fraud, and they were paid less for the painting than it was actually worth.

Representatives of the auction house took action, being the first to send this appeal to the Manhattan District Court to block the lawsuit: they said that they did not know that Buvier had already agreed with the billionaire, and he was already waiting for the “Savior of the World.”

Prince Albert II of Monaco and owner of the Monaco football club Dmitry Rybolovlev after a match in Monaco, 2014

In 2015, the Russian owner of the Monaco football club sued the art dealer Yves Buvier, accusing him of repeatedly inflating the prices of the works he sold, including a painting by Leonardo da Vinci: for 37 famous paintings The billionaire paid a total of $2 billion for the masters. Buvier denied everything, and Rybolovlev began to get rid of the work. In March, he sold works by Magritte, Rodin, Gauguin and Picasso, which he purchased from Buvier for $174 million. He received $43.7 million for them.

After Rybolovlev sued Buvier, he was detained in Monaco, after which he was released on bail of €10 million. After this, the art dealer stated that the legal system of Monaco acted in the interests of Rybolovlev. Indeed, in September 2017, the Minister of Justice of Monaco, Philippe Narmino, resigned after the French published an article that proved that the Russian billionaire was putting pressure on the countries. Buvier himself, in order to cover legal costs, had to sell part of the business associated with storage facilities for art objects.

Author, author!

Money issues aren't the only thing that's troubling about "Savior of the World." Many in the industry generally doubt that the painting is by Leonardo. New York critic Jerry Saltz published a column in Vulture ahead of the auction on November 14, in which he questioned the authenticity of “Savior of the World.”

Immediately wondering what a Leonardo painting is doing at the Post-War and Contemporary Art auction, he quotes one of the visitors: “The whole point is that 90% of this painting was created in the last 50 years.”

“The painting resembles someone’s fictionalized version of a lost original, in addition, the x-rays show cracks, destruction of the paint layer, swollen wood, an erased beard and other details corrected in order to make this copy more similar to the original,” Jerry Saltz is quoted as saying by the portal “ Artguide".

Criticism also confuses the quality of the work itself.

He claims that the great artist never painted portraits of people in such simple static poses, and even frontally; that there are 15-20 paintings by Leonardo da Vinci in the world, and not one of them is a “portrait” of the Savior; that the “golden ratio” rule used in the painting, which Christie’s marketing department refers to, is too obvious for the artist, who was at the peak of his fame in 1500.

In addition, Saltz was embarrassed by the large-scale marketing campaign launched by the auction house before the auction -

a luxurious 162-page booklet with quotes from Dostoevsky, Freud and Leonardo himself, advertising videos depicting enthusiastic spectators at the pre-auction show (among the spectators were celebrities, in particular, and).

“Be sure to watch the extended clip of three company employees promoting the painting to Hong Kong clients, describing it as “the holy grail of our business, the male Mona Lisa of the last da Vinci, our brainchild, a real blockbuster, comparable to the discovery of a new planet, more valuable than an oil refinery ", writes Jerry Saltz (quoted from the Art Guide portal).

In addition to the painting by Leonardo da Vinci, the work “The Last Supper” was sold at auction - it went under the hammer for $60 million. The appearance of the works together was supposed to justify the fact that the painting by the old master is being sold at the “Post-War and Contemporary Art” auction, which traditionally brings home the biggest income. This time it amounted to $785 million.