(Image source: ARTnews) 


BY LEXA DECKERT

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A masterpiece titled ‘Salvator Mundi’ -- which experts are saying is a work of Leonardo da Vinci -- has been discovered in the home of an American collector. The Huffington Post describes the details.

“The painting is devotional image of oil on wood panel that is comparable in size to Leonardo's St. John the Baptist. The restoration process began with the hope that the painting might be by Leonardo, and the restorers were proved right.”

The painting is owned by multiple dealers including Robert Simon-- it will be officially unveiled at the National Gallery in London later this year.
So how did it go so long -- undetected?  India’s Daily News reports --

“...da Vinci's hand was confirmed after the removal of layers of discoloured varnish and overpaint applied by earlier restoration attempts... the idea of finding a lost Leonardo was ‘not something a rational person would really believe.’ The composition was known from a 1650s engraving....”

While experts seem to agree -- it’s a da Vinci -- doubters abound.  A writer for The Minneapolis Star-Tribune notes...

“Would Leonardo da Vinci have painted Jesus with sleepy eyes, a shadowy mustache, one hand raised in a blessing and the other holding a symbolic globe of the world...A group of art historians and investors think so... however, the attribution to Leonardo is doubted by other experts... last time it was sold, in 1958, it was attributed to one of Leonardo's star pupils... rather than to the master himself.”

Scholars believe the painting originally belonged to King Charles the First and Second -- but disappeared after their deaths and didn’t resurface until the 19th century. Art News reports...

“The painting was acquired by a British collector, Sir Francis Cook (1817–1901)...    In the late 1940s, the painting was exhibited in England with other works from the Cook collection... In 1958 it was sold by trustees of the Cook collection at Sotheby's London... The catalogue stated that the work was by a pupil.”

Selling as a piece by da Vinci's student it went for just $100.

It’s current owners say it’s worth $200 million.

Salvator Mundi will be on display at the National Gallery in London from November 9th of this year -- until February 5th, 2012.
 

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