5 main mysteries of the most expensive painting in the history of painting: "Savior of the world" by Leonardo da Vinci

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Leonardo da Vinci is considered one of the brightest minds in human history. "Savior of the world" Leonardo da Vinci is called "the most beautiful question mark ever written." And at the same time, this is one of the most expensive paintings in the world, which is associated with a lot of scandals, mysteries and secrets. What does this canvas hide and what caused its scandalousness?

Plot

The painting depicts the figure of Christ - a long-haired man with a beard, who looks directly at the viewer. He raised one hand with a blessing, and in the other he holds a transparent sphere.

Riddle number 1 - Who is the real author of the picture?

A number of art historians believe that the work was done by Leonardos (these are Lombard artists of the Renaissance, whose work was significantly influenced by the manner of Leonardo da Vinci himself). The painting could also have been done by students or the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci. Matthew Landrus, an academic from Oxford, even made public a statement that this work was not Leonardo, but was done by his third-party imitator Bernardino Luini. While the true author is unknown, a number of facts prove the version of Leonardo's brush: 1. The pronounced sfumato technique It is well known that the artistic principle of sfumato was invented by Leonardo. Thanks to this technique, the heroes of his paintings are transformed from painted figures into real people of flesh and blood. Leonardo began to darken the pronounced parts of the hands and face (hands, chin, forehead, nose, fingers), which looked like smooth transitions from light to shadow and acquired a nebula effect. It was this technique that he used to create his famous "Mona Lisa". Sfumato is also used in "The Savior", and to a greater extent, which gave the face of Jesus a translucent face and fog.

2. Androgynous facial features The similarities between "Mona Lisa" and "Savior" are so obvious that the second picture is called the male version of "La Gioconda". Indeed, the eyes, nose, hair and upper lip look the same. It is likely that this proves the authorship of Leonardo. There is something else that unites Mona Lisa and Savior. Leonardo intended to give the characters androgynous features. The male characters of Leonardo have feminine traits, while the female characters have a number of masculine traits. Such is the figure of a beautiful young man in Leonardo's painting "St. John the Baptist" or an angel from the painting "Madonna of the Rocks". Likewise, the facial features of the "Savior" are rather soft.

3. Found sketches of "Savior" In 2008, a group of experts recognized that the work was indeed written by Leonardo da Vinci. Together with the painting, sketches of the "Savior" and an engraving of 1650 made by the famous printer were found, could become another evidence. The inscription on it read: "Leonardo da Vinci painted this." As an anatomist, Leonardo was very good at drawing hands. The right hand is shown really masterfully. The clothes are also written in the style of Leonardo (the shirt and sleeves are painted with great realism, the ornament on the dress is especially admirable). Moreover, these details match the original sketches of the master, which are exhibited at Windsor Castle.

4. Pentimento On closer inspection, you can see the pentimento (rewritten palm). Initially, the palm was smaller, but the master made it wider, i.e. the artist's adjustments are visible to the naked eye. The presence of significant deviations from the original design indicates the originality of the work. 5. The same colors in the paintings "Savior" and "Madonna of the Rocks" "Madonna of the Rocks" is exhibited at the National Gallery in London. It was this museum that was the first to recognize the authenticity of the "Savior of the World". The fact is that the gallery staff had a compelling argument: by examining the pigments of the Savior paint, they proved their absolute identity to the Madonna in the Rocks paint.

Riddle # 2 - The Sphere of Christ: An Intentional Error by the Author?

Apart from the face of Jesus, the brightest and most mysterious detail in the picture is the glass sphere as the symbol of the earth. In traditional ideas about the "Savior of the world", you can often find a crystal ball, representing the heavenly sphere and symbolizing the supreme power of God. Before Columbus discovered America in 1492, people believed that the earth was flat. Could this knowledge of Leonardo be a prediction for people that the earth is round? After all, if you look at other "Saviors" of that period, you can see that the plot is repeated by both German and Dutch artists. But Leonardo's sphere is unique in that it seems unthinkable in the work of a "Renaissance man" - the painting contains a clear error.

The sphere has a scientific error in the realism of refraction and distortion of light passing through a crystal ball. In reality, the reflection of the ball should show a tiny inverted image of Christ's tunic and his hand that holds the ball. The great inventor Leonardo knew the science of optics, physics and had a deep understanding of the refraction of light. Why did he go against his own knowledge in the case of the "Savior of the world"? Is this a deliberate mistake or was the painting was actually another master who had no knowledge of optics? The most pragmatic explanation for this mystery is that Leonardo deliberately chose to ignore the reflection of the sphere in order to represent God's superiority and dominion over the laws of natural order, which confirms and strengthens His status as the Savior of the world.

Riddle number 3 - Is there a connection between the "Savior of the World" and the Turin Shroud?

The Shroud of Turin is a piece of ancient canvas a little more than four meters long and a meter wide. On this fabric, there are two full-length images of a naked male body, located symmetrically to each other, head to head. On one half of the shroud there is an image of a male body with arms folded in front and legs lying evenly; on the other half - the image of the same body from the back. According to legend, Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the body of Jesus Christ after his suffering and death on the cross.

The hypothesis of researchers Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince about the origin of the Turin Shroud confirms that it does not belong to Jesus. They argue that the shroud is nothing more than a "photograph" taken by Leonardo himself. To prove their theory, the researchers compared the X-rayed face of the relic and the face of the "Savior of the World." The results were amazing. Picknett and Prince published their research in 2006, proving that both were an exact match in geometry and dimensions.

Riddle number 4 - Location of the painting

The first location of the "Savior of the World" was in the collections of Charles I and Charles II, and then disappeared for 100 years, reappearing in the field of view of art critics at the turn of the 20th century (it was found in the collection of Francis Cook in 1908). Further, the "Savior of the World" was lost again between 1763 and 1900 when it was subsequently acquired by the artist and collector Sir Charles Robinson. Dhabi. Prior to that, in September 2018, the Louvre branch in the capital of the UAE canceled the presentation of the painting "without explanation." In June 2019, it became known that the painting was kept on the yacht of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. The painting will remain on the yacht until the Saudi Arabian authorities build a cultural center in the El Ula region in El Madinah province, where it is expected to be exhibited. An October 2019 report indicates that the paintings may also be in Switzerland.

Riddle # 5 - The true value of the canvas

For $ 60 - the painting was sold in London in 1958 from the catalog of one of Leonardo's followers. The only bidder at the time was an American. For $ 1,000, the painting was auctioned in 2005 in New Orleans. Art dealers Robert Simon and Alex Parrish saw the potential and made a winning bet. For $ 80 million, the masterpiece was sold to Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier in 2013. For $ 127.5 million, it was resold by the art dealer to Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev. $ 450 Million - Sold by Savior of the World in 2017 and became the most expensive work of art ever sold. It is believed to have been acquired on behalf of the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.