Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi kept on Saudi prince’s yacht

SALVATOR MUNDI, the Leonardo da Vinci painting that disappeared without trace after it sold in 2017 for a record $450 million (£350 million), is reported to have surfaced on a superyacht belonging to Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

The painting, which has been at the centre of a controversy over its authenticity, “was whisked away in the middle of the night on MBS’S plane and relocated to his yacht, the Serene”, according to Artnet.com, which cited two unidentified people involved in the transaction.

Another Saudi prince was said to have bought the artwork on Crown Prince Mohammed’s behalf at a Christie’s auction, the New York Times reported previously. Christie’s has declined to confirm that report.

The yacht is moored near the Egyptian city of Port Said in the Mediterranean, according to Marine Traffic. On May 26, it was in the Red Sea off Sharm el-sheikh, an Egyptian resort town on the Sinai Peninsula, according to Bloomberg ship-tracking data.

The Salvator Mundi will remain aboard the 440ft, €500million vessel Serene until the Saudis create a planned cultural hub in the Kingdom’s Al-ula region, Artnet said.

The Louvre in Paris had asked to borrow the work for an October exhibition. However, that may not go ahead after experts at the Louvre attributed the work to Leonardo’s workshop, rather than to the artist alone.

Displaying it as a “workshop” painting would dramatically reduce its value and leave its Saudi owners humiliated, according to an art historian who has charted the painting’s extraordinary story.

Ben Lewis, author of The Last Leonardo, said last month: “It is very unlikely it will be shown because the owner of this picture cannot possibly lend it to the Louvre Paris and see it exhibited as ‘Leonardo workshop’ – its value will go down to somewhere north of $1.5m.

“If a picture cannot show its face, that is really damning for the art world. It is almost like it has become the Saudi’s latest political prisoner.”

The Louvre Abu Dhabi had announced plans to display the Salvator Mundi last September, but it cancelled the unveiling without giving a reason two weeks before it was due to open.