WASHINGTON: Since its sale for a price of $450 million, the whereabouts of the “Salvator Mundi,” said to be painted by Leonardo da Vinci, has come to be one of the art world’s finest mysteries.
On Monday, London-based artwork provider Kenny Schachter, writing for the website Artnews, supplied solutions: the painting is now living on the gargantuan yacht owned using powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Since its record-setting sale at Christie’s in 2017, the portrait, wherein Jesus Christ is depicted emerging from darkness blessing the arena with one hand even as protecting a transparent globe inside the other, has never been exhibited in public, triggering doubts approximately its ownership, whereabouts, and authenticity.
Many art experts are cut up over whether or not they portray truth, saying it is now longer painted by the Italian master personally but as a substitute by his workshop.
The Wall Street Journal first mentioned that the painting changed into bought by way of Saudi prince Badr bin Abdullah, who acted in the name of the Saudi crown prince, known by his initials MBS.
AFP could not corroborate Schachter’s column, and in a nod to the opaque nature of international artwork income, he wrote, “In the murky Middle Eastern waters, nothing is quite a crystal clear.”
But mentioning numerous assets, including two involved in the sale, Schachter claims the portrait “turned into whisked in the middle of the night on MBS’s aircraft and relocated to his yacht, the Serene.”
After pronouncing that the painting was discovered at the start in shards and had to be reconstructed before its auction, he asks, “What damage could the occasional splash of seawater do?”
Schachter later wrote that the painting would stay onboard the large yacht until its miles are relocated to the Al-Ula governorate, which Saudi Arabia aims to convert into a subculture and tourism vacation spot.
LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s efforts to deliver his son Akhilesh Yadav and younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav together do not seem to be bearing fruit.
Shivpal Singh Yadav categorically said that he had no plans to merge his Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) into the Samajwadi Party.
“My party is building up, and we’re growing from strength to strength. I have no plan to merge my birthday celebration with SP. It is just too past due inside the day. However, if there may be a proposal for an alliance, we may recollect the identical,” he said.
Akhilesh, however, is stated to be absolutely in opposition to the return of his estranged uncle to the SP fold.
“With remarkable attempt, Akhilesh has cmanagedto set himself up as the undisputed leader of his birthday celebration, and he evidently does no longer want his uncle to go back and challenge his authority once more,” said a supporter of the SP chief.
