The Suit Magazine

A painting by Leonardo da Vinci that has been lost for centuries has been identified and authenticated by scholars in the U.S. and Europe. It will be exhibited at London’s National Gallery as part of a da Vinci show that opens on November 9. The show, which will run through February 5, 2012, showcases Leonardo’s years at the court of Ludovico Sforza, ruler of Milan. The Guardian called the show, “a great triumph of diplomacy, with paintings leaving museums in Italy and France for the first time.”

The painting, entitled “Salvator Mundi,” displays Jesus Christ with his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand holding a globe. The oil painting measures 26 by 18.5 inches in size and is painted on a wood panel.

The piece is owned by a group of dealers, including Robert Simon, a specialist in Old Masters in New York City. “ARTnews” first broke the story of the discovery on June 22. At the time, Simon declined to comment on the painting itself, the price or the details on how the painting was acquired.

On July 8, Simon issued a release through a PR company confirming the details of the story. Simon stated that the examination of the painting by a number of distinguished scholars, “resulted in an unequivocal consensus that the Salvator Mundi was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, and that it is the single original painting from which the many copies and versions depend. Individual opinions vary slightly in the matter of dating. Most place the painting at the end of Leonardo’s Milanese period in the late 1490s, contemporary with the completion of The Last Supper. Others believe it to be slightly later, painted in Florence (where Leonardo moved in 1500), contemporary with the Mona Lisa.”

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