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Leonardo da Vinci's​ Work Sells for a World-Record $450 Million

"Salvator Mundi" smashes the former record held by Picasso’s “Women of Algiers,” which fetched $179.4 million in 2015
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Agents speak with their clients while bidding on Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" during the Post-War and Contemporary Art sale at Christie's.Photo: Getty Images/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez

Move over, Picasso: There's a new record holder in the art world. At Christie's tonight in New York City, a painting entitled “Salvator Mundi” by Leonardo da Vinci sold for $450.3 million, setting a new world record and more than doubling the previous one held by Pablo Picasso’s “Women of Algiers,” which fetched $179.4 million in 2015.

After nearly 20 minutes of frantic bids coming through the telephone from around the globe, the work, whose estimate was a—paltry, by comparison—$100 million, sold before a packed crowd of onlookers. The several hundred present cheered when the gavel came down, cementing the night for the history books. The auction also sold other such notable works as Kerry James Marshall's "Still Life with Wedding Portrait," Louise Bourgeois's "Spider II," Jean-Michel Basquiat's "II Duce," and Andy Warhol's "Sixty Last Suppers," among other lauded paintings.

"Salvator Mundi" by Leonardo da Vinci.

Photo: Getty Images

After "Salvator Mundi" was first unveiled to a small number of the media last month, it traveled to Hong Kong, San Francisco, and London for exhibition before returning to New York for Christie's Evening Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art. "As you all know, this painting traveled around the world, and it was an incredible journey," said Loic Gouzer, cochairman of Christie's post-war and contemporary art department, after the auction. "Everywhere we went there were lines around the block. It captured the imagination of so many people."

Despite some skepticism by various art world personas over its value, bidding for the work began in earnest, and the value moved at a frenetic pace. After about ten minutes, only a few bidders remained, pushing the amount up $2 million every few minutes. The last few moments were tense, as the crowd, as well as Jussi Pylkkänen, the auctioneer, knew they were a part of history. The buyer for the famous work of art was not immediately disclosed.