The Salvator Mundi is a Leonardo da Vinci painting. It recently sold for 400 million dollars at Christie’s Auction, purchased by Sheik MBS.
This was an extraordinary event, and there is a documentary about it which you may buy or rent on iTunes or Amazon. It’s called “Savior For Sale.”
Some people may ask: Is this real? – because it involves such anxiety-provoking twists and turns, which I personally could not handle.
What is interesting about "Savior For Sale" is the battle between brilliant, high-cultured minds in the art world who were in disagreement over whether the painting was authentic, which is kind of a big deal when you have just spent four hundred million dollars buying it.
Before it sold for four hundred million dollars at auction, the "Salvator Mundi" sold for a few dollars at some yard sale in some old crusty neighborhood in Louisiana (in the southern U.S.A.). The people who owned the “Salvator Mundi” did not see any value in it - the painting did not have any boobs, ass, guns, or monster trucks in it so was of no interest to an American. How they got it, I don’t know.
Every classical oil painting has a weird, entangled story behind it. This could easily be a high-grossing movie if done my way (If you are a producer or investor, contact me through the film section which will be set up by the end of 2025. Let’s talk about the future of film in Free Iran. I will have a private area there for filmmakers, screenwriters, producers, and investors, where we can start making connections).
How stupid they probably felt when only a year or so later the painting they had kept in their home sold for four hundred million dollars. “Honey, we could have bought a monster truck with that kind of money.” Basically, they decided that the picture wasn’t good enough to display in the living room, so they stuck it in the musty stairwell.
Someone bought it for a few dollars at the yard sale, then turned around and sold it for a quick few thousand dollars. Another bumbler. Quickly, a Swiss art dealer saw value in the painting and put it up for sale for a hundred and thirty million dollars.
A Russian billionaire living in Monaco, bought the painting after tense negotiations in New York City, which was played up in the documentary. That was about when the newspapers began to circulate a story that the “Salvator Mundi” was probably a fraud.
When the wealthy Russian heard the rumors, and thinking that he had been cheated, he quickly placed the painting with Christie's Auction House, perhaps hoping some fool would buy it for half-price.
The representative at Christie's happened to be an extremely motivated hustler. He summoned all his extraordinary talents and knowledge of the art world and publicity to create highly successful events to showcase the "Salvator Mundi," attracting attention from the public and mainstream media.
In a powerful, well-organized move, the painting was put on display for a limited time, and this scene was featured in the documentary about it. They set up a camera to focus, not just on the painting, but on the faces of the people who stood in line for hours to view it. The gallery was shrouded in darkness except for a light on the painting and another light on the faces of the people who were looking at it. It became a huge social event in New York City.
All the pageantry paid off when the painting sold for four hundred million dollars to Sheik MBS at the auction house attended by hundreds of powerful, cultured and wealthy people, all of whom were taken on a rollercoaster ride and left feeling stunned at how high a price the painting eventually sold for. No one expected it.
The biggest irony of all is that if I had owned it, I would have thrown it in the trash. It's the ugliest painting I've ever seen, and it doesn't even look like Jesus. What is weird is that he looks like Lucifer the devil in an oil painting that Jacob Rothschild owned. I would not want such an ugly painting in my home. This painting is so ugly that I almost didn't want to show a pic of him. How is it that no one else sees this?
The Lord, while in human form, looked Middle Eastern Semitic with olive skin tone and a long nose. Modern prophets who have seen him, as he appears to modern humans a lot these days, say he looks Middle Eastern (see below for a picture of the death shroud that Jesus wore, which when he was brought back to life by God, emblazoned his image on it).
The documentary provides a good lesson in hyping the value of absolute junk. I'd rather own a poster of a monster truck.
I highly recommend buying the DVD or downloading it on a MacBook. The art of the deal is on full display in the craft of selling art to wealthy fools for stupid high prices.
"SAVIOR FOR SALE"
DEATH SHROUD OF REAL JESUS (note the bloodstains from the crown of thorns):
