Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism has announced that it has acquired Leonardo da Vinci’smasterpiece Salvator Mundi. The work, hailed as one of the greatest artistic rediscoveries of the last 100 years, will go on display at Louvre Abu Dhabi, alongside another da Vinci masterpiece, La Belle Ferronnière,which is currently on loan from musée du Louvre.
Painted by one of history’s greatest and most renowned artists, Salvator Mundi is one of fewer than 20 known surviving paintings by the Italian Renaissance master. Dating from around 1500, it is an oil on panel painting depicting a half-length figure of Christ as Saviour of the World, facing the viewer, and dressed in flowing robes of lapis and crimson. The figure holds a crystal orb in his left hand as he raises his right hand in benediction.
His Excellency Mohamed Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture & Tourism said: “We are delighted to be displaying Salvator Mundi, part of Leonardo da Vinci’s rich legacy, at Louvre Abu Dhabi. This is in line with our ambition to share this extraordinary museum with the world, and our mission to inspire a new generation of cultural leaders and creative thinkers to contribute to our rapidly-changing and tolerant nation.”
