Long-Lost Da Vinci Painting Fetches Historic $450 Million, Obliterating Records

[rangerrebew]

Long-Lost Da Vinci Painting Fetches Historic $450 Million, Obliterating Records
By Stephanie Pappas, Live Science Contributor | November 15, 2017 09:08pm ET

 2017.
Credit: Leonardo da Vinci

A painting by Leonardo da Vinci that preserves the artist's own handprints sold for more than $450 million at auction tonight (Nov. 15), "obliterating the previous world record for the most expensive work of art at auction," according to Christie's Auction House.

Christie's presented the painting, which depicts Jesus Christ holding up one hand in blessing while cradling a crystal orb in the other, at a sale in New York this evening. The auction house guaranteed the painting at $100 million, meaning it would pay the difference if bidders didn't reach that level; last time the painting sold, in 2014, it went for $127.5 million. Tonight, the bidding lasted about 20 minutes and boiled down to two bidders, with the numbers already soaring past the guaranteed amount.

https://www.livescience.com/60952-da-vinci-painting-fetches-450-million.html

[thackney]

I liked hearing this:

At one time, though, the very same painting went for a song — in 1958, it sold for a mere 45 British pounds, which is the equivalent of 990.50 pounds ($1,304) today. That's because it wasn't until the late 2000s that anyone realized the painting was a da Vinci.