"This is madness, this is an absolute record for a Mona Lisa reproduction," a Christie's spokeswoman said.
Da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" was sold for $450.3 million in 2017 to the Abu Dhabi branch of the Louvre, but has not gone on display since then. The exhibition in Paris features a version of the same painting made by one of da Vinci's disciples.
Five hundred years after his death, Leonardo da Vinci’s interaction with the Ottomans is memorialised in his designs for a bridge and his overtures to the Ottoman Sultans of the time.
The Wall Street Journal initially reported, citing US intelligence and other unnamed sources, that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman used an intermediary to buy the painting. However, a Saudi official denies the purchase.
“Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi is coming to #LouvreAbuDhabi,” the museum said on Twitter displaying an image of the 500-year-old work.
The painting smashed the world record for any work of art sold at auction. The buyer's name is not yet known.
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