--- title: Da Vinci Jesus Portrait Is Up for Auction for $100 Million description: Da Vinci's last private masterpiece, a Mona-Lisa-like portrait of Jesus, is estimated to go for $100 million from auction house Christie's. canonical: https://time.com/4976048/da-vinci-jesus/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-10T17:19:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:27.416Z og:title: Da Vinci Masterpiece Is Up for Sale for a Mere $100 Million og:description: The "Salvator Mundi" is the last known privately-owned Da Vinci oil in the world og:url: https://time.com/4976048/da-vinci-jesus/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfc1e8c9acb6cfa0/6988e13d7cdbac7d36d5a6ad/da-vinci-jesus.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Christie's Press Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Da Vinci Masterpiece Is Up for Sale for a Mere $100 Million twitter:description: The "Salvator Mundi" is the last known privately-owned Da Vinci oil in the world twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfc1e8c9acb6cfa0/6988e13d7cdbac7d36d5a6ad/da-vinci-jesus.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Jesus Portrait Is Up for Grabs If You Have $100 Million Lying Around > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b0a039e9-3d47-4675-9701-3f176fa2049b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Google's Newest Feature Is Great For Art Lovers [Watch (HLS stream): Google's Newest Feature Is Great For Art Lovers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XR6K8ctW.m3u8) (1:11)  _Published 2017-05-31. An update rolling out Wednesday will allow Street View museum-goers to read annotations about paintings, zoom in on high-resolution images, and more._  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 10, 2017 5:19 PM UTC  Christie's unveils Leonardo da Vinci's 'Salvator Mundi' with Andy Warhol's 'Sixty Last Suppers' at Christie's New York on October 10, 2017 in New York City. Christie's unveils Leonardo da Vinci's 'Salvator Mundi' with Andy Warhol's 'Sixty Last Suppers' at Christie's New York on October 10, 2017 in New York City. Ilya S. Savenok—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 10, 2017 5:19 PM UTC The last [Leonardo Da Vinci](http://time.com/4598170/leonardo-da-vinci-drawing/) painting that has been privately owned could be yours for casual $100 million. The oil painting on panel, which dates back to the 16th century, is called the _Salvator Mundi._ While Da Vinci may be one of the most famous classical artists in history, his paintings we know of today are actually few and far between: fewer than 20 can be traced with certainty back to the [Renaissance master](http://time.com/3107557/top-10-lefties/item/leonardo-da-vinci-lefty/). The _Salvator Mundi_, which happens to be a portrait of Jesus in the same dark, impassive style as the [infamous _Mona Lisa_](http://time.com/4701055/mona-lisa-happy-smiling-study/), is also the only known of those oil works to be held in private hands. “The _Salvator Mundi_ is the Holy Grail of old master paintings,” a Christie’s senior specialist in Old Master paintings noted in a release. Its history is also dappled with intrigue. Originally held in the collection of King Charles in the 17th century, the _Salvator Mundi_ next passed to an illegitimate son of the Duke of Buckingham, Christie’s explains. There, the trail turns murky: it disappeared and fell into obscurity, ultimately popping up at an auction in 1958 as a probable fraud. (It sold for 45 British pounds at the time, a pittance given what we know now.) The last half-century is another blank space in its story — that is, until it reappeared in 2005 at another auction and was carefully examined. Its true provenance discovered, it is now once again on the auction block Nov. 15\. And it won’t be selling for much of a bargain this time. But first, it will join a Last-Supper-themed Andy Warhol work on a global tour, so even those of us without $100 million burning a hole in our pocket might catch a glimpse of the masterpiece at long last. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Street View images are cross referenced with data obtained from partner museums. Google is also adding a panel with helpful art- related information in search results. 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