Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ Comes to San Francisco

Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi. Oil on walnut panel.

In San Francisco at Minnesota Street Project this week, an astonishingly rare opportunity to see in-person one of the world’s most important paintings — Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi (‘Saviour of the World’).

Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi. Oil on walnut panel. Panel dimensions: 25 13/16 x 17 15/16 in (64.5 x 45.1 cm) top; 17¾ in (45.6 cm) bottom; Painted image dimensions: 15⅜ x 17½ in (64.5 x 44.7 cm).
Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi. Oil on walnut panel. Painted image dimensions: 15⅜ x 17½ in.

Christie’s is previewing it here in advance of their November 15, 2017 auction at Rockefeller Plaza, where it’s expected to sell for around $100 million.

It last sold for $127.5 million to Russian billionaire, Dmitry Rybolovlev, who has been in the news for having purchased Donald Trump’s Palm Beach estate in 2008 for between $95 million and $100 million.

Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi. Above the left eye (right as we look at it), are still visible the marks that Leonardo ‘made with the heel of his hand to soften the flesh,’ as Martin Kemp has observed
Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi. Above the left eye (right as we look at it), are still visible the marks that Leonardo ‘made with the heel of his hand to soften the flesh,’ as Martin Kemp has observed.

Commissioned by King Louis XII of France and painted between 1506 and 1513, at the same time period as the Mona Lisa, it was owned by King Charles I and II, then bizarrely got lost to history for over 100 years, eventually being auctioned in 1958 for about $50. Not $50 million. $50.

Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi. Both of Christ’s hands, the exquisitely rendered curls of his hair, the orb, and much of his drapery are in fact remarkably well preserved and close to their original state
Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi. Both of Christ’s hands, the exquisitely rendered curls of his hair, the orb, and much of his drapery are in fact remarkably well preserved and close to their original state

A work of this stature will likely land at a major museum… but could also end up in some Swiss vault, hedge funders penthouse, or Bill Gates’ bedroom — so this may be your only chance to see it.

Minnesota Street Project
1275 Minnesota Street, San Francisco
October 18, 2017: 11 AM to 5 PM
October 19, 2017: 10 AM to 5 PM
October 20, 2017: 10 AM to 5 PM
(415) 243-0825
Free Admission

The piece will also be shown in London (October 24 to 26, 2017) and New York (October 28 to November 4, 2017).

For even Leonardo in SF, Walter Isaacson will speak at The Commonwealth Club on October 25th, 2017, about his new book on the Renaissance master.

Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi. Powerfully convincing evidence of Leonardo’s authorship was provided by the discovery of numerous pentimenti, such as in the palm of the left hand seen through the transparent orb.
Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi. Powerfully convincing evidence of Leonardo’s authorship was provided by the discovery of numerous pentimenti, such as in the palm of the left hand seen through the transparent orb.