British professor to visit Saudi Arabia to inspect Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’

Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, Salvator Mundi - Latin for Saviour of the World -might see the light of day again, in an interview with the Times and The Sunday Times British professor, Martin Kemp revealed that he has been invited to Saudi Arabia in order to inspect the $450 million painting.

It is said to be the world’s most expensive artwork which is now owned by Riyadh and has controversially been attributed to the polymath. However, this topic has widely been debated among art experts, said the report. The painting has also not been seen in public since it was bought, back in 2017 when it became the most expensive painting to be sold to date.

In the interview, Kemps, an art historian at the University of Oxford, said that he was reluctant to visit Riyadh because of “iniquities of the Saudi regime”. However, he said if it helps bring the painting “into the light” he would consider it. The sale of the painting happened five years ago in New York, notably, a book titled, “The Lost Leonardo” later revealed that it was bought by the US in 2005 for merely $1,157.

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The report also maps the painting’s rise to prominence, how following significant conservation work the painting was unveiled at an exhibition at the National Gallery in the UK. At the time, the painting was showcased as a Leonardo painting, despite scepticism from the art world on the polymath’s involvement in the work.

The report suggests that many given the painting’s “inferior quality” questioned if Salvator Mundi has been painted by the polymath himself comparing it to paintings like Mona Lisa they suggested that it might have been painted by Leonardo’s student or another artist. Notably, when the sale was made in 2017 the painting seemingly disappeared and only later reported that it had been bought by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who has reportedly not confirmed the ownership of the painting.

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“It is in Saudi Arabia and the country is constructing an art gallery, which is to be finished in 2024 I think. There have been moves to get me out to look at it and I have been slightly reluctant to go to Saudi Arabia for very obvious reasons,” said Kemps during the interview. He was also the one who attributed this painting to Leonardo before it sold at the 2017 auction, the report indicated.

While speaking about the painting, the British professor and author of several books including “Living with Leonardo” said that he is “confident” that it is Leonardo’s original. He added, “Can I say that every brushstroke is by Leonardo? Not necessarily. Perhaps all the geometric patterns on the stole, it may be that it is a repeat motif and he could have assigned that to a student.”

(With inputs from agencies)