Written by Oscar Holland, CNN
A 16th century copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi”, the most expensive painting in the world, was recovered by Italian police after it was stolen from a museum in Naples.
The work, probably painted by one of the Renaissance master’s students, was discovered in an apartment during a search in the Italian city, according to a police statement. The 36-year-old owner of the property was found nearby and taken into custody on suspicion of having received stolen goods.
The portrait was inspired by Leonardo’s famous representation of Christ with one hand raised in blessing and the other holding a crystal sphere. Numerous copies of the work were made during the artist’s lifetime by his students and assistants.
The Italian police present the recovered painting, believed to be from the 1510s. Credit: Salvatore Laporta / IPA / Shutterstock
Although it is not known who created this particular “Salvator Mundi”, it is believed to have been painted in the late 1510s by someone from the artist’s workshop. The portrait’s owner, the Museum of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples, said on his website that there are “several hypotheses” about the painter’s identity, with the “most convincing” theory crediting Leonardo Girolamo Alibrandi’s student.
The painting is believed to have been created in Rome before being taken to Naples by Giovanni Antonio Muscettola, an envoy and adviser to the Holy Roman Emperor, Carlos V.
The work briefly returned to the Italian capital in 2019, when it was loaned to Villa Farnesina for the exhibition “Leonardo in Rome”. The exhibition’s brochure describes it as a “magnificent” copy of the artist’s masterpiece. The San Domenico Maggiore online list, however, described the work as a “refined” and “well-preserved” pictorial sketch.
Police did not specify when the painting was stolen, although the Naples museum reported being in possession of the work in January 2020, when it was returned from Rome.
Related video: Leonardo’s “Salvator Mundi” moment sold for $ 450 million in 2017.
Leonardo’s original “Salvator Mundi” made history in 2017, when it sold for $ 450.3 million at Christie’s in New York. After being discarded as a copy, it was sold in the UK for just £ 45 ($ 61) in the 1950s.
Although some scholars dispute the attribution to Leonardo, suggesting that it was at least partially created by members of his workshop, the painting was restored and authenticated before it became the most expensive work of art to sell at auction. It is widely known that the record offer was made on behalf of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
The “Salvator Mundi”, however, has not been seen in public since the November 2017 sale. After the Louvre Abu Dhabi announced it would show the painting, it postponed the grand opening in 2018 without explanation.
Top image caption: The copy of “Salvator Mundi” found in Naples, Italy, on January 18, 2021
