New York Times announces: a Saudi prince is the buyer of the Salvator Mundi

While yesterday the Louvre in Abu Dhabi announced the imminent arrival of the Salvator Mundi, the Leonardo da Vinci painting that passed at auction on Nov. 15 and became the most expensive work in history, the New York Times conducted an investigation aimed at learning more about the identity of the buyer: the U.S. newspaper thus managed to trace it back to a little-known Saudi prince, Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud. This was revealed in an article signed by David D. Kirkpatrick. A distant relative of Saudi Arabian royalty, Prince Bader al-Saud has no history as a world-class art collector, nor has he ever publicly flaunted his wealth. The New York Times came to his name through the analysis of some documents.

The article also learns how Prince Bader appeared on the list of potential buyers only the day before the sale, and how during the auction at Christie’s he was represented in the room by Alex Rotter, co-chairman for contemporary art at the British auction house. The payment also should be paid in six monthly installments of $58 million (the remaining hundred would instead be paid as a deposit to attend the auction).

No official confirmation comes from Christie’s or from the person directly involved. What about the story of the Louvre in Abu Dhabi? Given the ties between the Saudi royal family and the emirate, it is likely that the arrival of the painting in Abu Dhabi was the result of a joint operation, the nature of which, however, is currently unknown.

New York Times announces: a Saudi prince is the buyer of the Salvator Mundi

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