L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 L'Italo-Americano L e o n a r d o d a Vinci is possibly, a l o n g w i t h Michelangelo and Dante, the most famous name in Italian art. His ingenuity didn't only give us some of the most iconic paintings in the world – the Mona Lisa and the Last Sup- per, just to mention the, per- haps, most famous of them all – but also creative inven- tions and incredible urbanis- tic solutions – the network of canals in Milan we know as " n a v i g l i " w e r e , i n f a c t , designed by him. But it isn't only his artistic greatness to make Leonardo so influential and so well-known, nor is the fact he represents to perfec- tion, with his many interests a n d a c h i e v e m e n t s , t h e Renaissance idea of "com- plete human knowledge." L e o n a r d o a t t r a c t s u s because he is mysterious. because while we know a lot about his life, we don't know everything. He is, at once, t h e m o s t f a m o u s , y e t t h e least familiar artist of all times. Mystery is part of Leonar- do's allure, and of that of his art. Let's take the Mona Lisa, for instance: while it is more or less widely accepted that the woman of the painting was Lisa Gherardini, an Italian aristrocrat who lived between the 15th and 16th century in Florence, some still doubts that's her real identity. Even his writing was peculiar, strange, different f r o m t h e n o r m : a s a l e f t - handed man, Leonardo wrote from right to left, making his handwriting unintelligible to everyone, unless a mirror is used. Even his words, black on white, are surrounded by an aura of unknown. In more recent years, how- ever, the mystery related to Leonardo da Vinci has been one, and only one: that of the Salvator Mundi, a paint- ing of Christ holding an orb that resurfaced from a pri- vate collection in the US back in the late '50s, and went from being an interesting Renaissance piece to becom- ing the most expensive piece of art ever sold. W h e n a N e w Y o r k a r t dealer found it, in 1958, in the collection of a recently deceased art lover, he bought it for just over 1,000 dollars, as a painting probably by an artist who had worked with one of Leonardo's appren- tices. The painting, the col- lector's son said, had once belonged to the British king Charles I, but without any evidence of such a glorious precedent, the fact didn't help make it more valuable. However, things changed dramatically when the piece, around 2005, was restored: it was evident the painting had undergone several touch-ups during the centuries, which were hiding its true colors and features. Dianne Mod- estini was in charge of the delicate job and she was left speechless when, after years o f p a i n s t a k i n g w o r k , s h e brought to light the true Sal- vator Mundi and noticed the many close similarities it had with the work of Leonardo: not that of an apprentice, but that of the master himself. In 2011, when the restoration was completed, the painting w a s s e n t t o t h e N a t i o n a l Gallery in London for confir- mation of Modestini's hunch: the gallery was about to open an important exhibition dedi- cated to Leonardo and the Salvator Mundi, if declared an original, could become its incredible centerpiece. How- ever, not all curators agreed on its authenticity: in other words, not all experts were convinced Leonardo painted it. That didn't really matter to the world of art collectors, though, because the word was out about a "new" da Vinci and everyone wanted it. Between 2011 and 2017, the S a l v a t o r M u n d i p a s s e d hands a few times, eventually ending up in the private col- l e c t i o n o f o n e D m i t r y Rybolovlev, a Russian oli- garch who lived in Monte Carlo. A f t e r a f e w y e a r s a w a y from the spotlight, the Salva- tor Mundi took center stage again when, in 2017, it was auctioned at Christie's and what happened on that day, the 15th of November 2017 or, even better, since that day, could easily be the beginning of an international espionage or mystery novel. A celebrity p a r t e r r e t h a t i n c l u d e d , among others, Leonardo di Caprio, Jennifer Lopez, and P a t t i S m i t h p a r t i c i p a t e d , either actively or as an inter- ested spectator, in a bona fide bidding war over the alleged Leonardo, which led to its eventual sale to an anony- mous bidder for – hold tight – 4 5 0 m i l l i o n U S d o l l a r s (including Christie's fees). The Salvator Mundi had just become the most expensive piece of art ever auctioned. It eventually emerged that t h e l u c k y w i n n e r w a s n o other than Abu Dhabi crown p r i n c e M o h a m m e d b i n Z a y e d , w h o a c q u i r e d t h e painting for prince Mohamed bin Salman, the controversial heir to the Saudi throne. In the days after the auction, the world of art seemed to have accepted almost unanimously that the Salvator Mundi was t h e w o r k o f L e o n a r d o although some, including famous art critic Jerry Saltz, remained much more cau- tious. In 2022, there is still no agreement about its authen- ticity: we are still not sure whether this beautiful "Savior of the world" was, in fact, painted by Leonardo or not. But the mystery, after its 2017 auction, became even bigger b e c a u s e w e ' v e n o l o n g e r heard about it, nor seen it since. We don't know where the Salvator Mundi is. It was, officially, acquired to become the main attraction of the L o u v r e A b u D h a b i , b u t i t never appeared in the recent- ly-opened museum. Similar- ly, it never appeared in the retrospective the original Louvre, the one in Paris of course, curated to commemo- rate Leonardo's 500th death anniversary in 2019. Why? B e c a u s e t h e m u s e u m ' s experts said there wasn't suf- ficient evidence to declare it a real work by Leonardo. We don't know where it is. We don't really know who painted it. The mystery and m y s t i q u e o f t h e S a l v a t o r Mundi - and of his alleged author – is here to stay. The "Salvator Mundi:" its authenticity is still debated today (Photo: Younsi . /Dreamstime) NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS The mystery of the "Salvator Mundi:" Leonardo's hidden masterpiece GIULIA FRANCESCHINI

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