Salvator Mundi

Salvator Mundi is a painting by the workshop of Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to c. 1500. The painting shows Jesus in Renaissance dress, making the sign of cross with his right hand, while holding a transparent, non-refracting crystal orb in his left, signaling his role as Salvator Mundi ( Latin for 'Savior of the World' ) and representing the 'celestial sphere' of the heavens.

Around 20 other versions of the work are known, by students and followers of Leonardo. Preparatory chalk and ink drawings of the drapery by Leonardo are held in the British Royal Collection.

Long thought to be a copy of a lost original, veiled with overpainting, it was restored, rediscovered, and included in a major Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery, London, in 2011–2012. This sold at Christie's for $450.3 million, the highest price ever achieved for any artwork at auction.