At the fateful auction where Salvator Mundi wound up making international headlines when it soared past figures ever seen at auction, Christie’s postwar and contemporary art co-chairman Alex Rotter was representing Prince Bader in the room. Other anonymous bidders vied for the work, but their names have not yet been revealed. According to the New York Times, Prince Bader is paying for Salvator Mundi in six installments, with at least five of them priced at more than $58 million.
Before it sold for a total of $450.3 million, the lot had been expected to be an expensive one—but it far exceeded expectations on its way to smashing auction records of all kinds. Many years earlier, in 1958, it sold for a £45 at Sotheby’s. Only in 2011 was it authenticated as a true Leonardo.
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