This section of the website is devoted to information about Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi. Although the painting and my involvement with it are completely distinct from the activities of Robert Simon Fine Art, I thought it would be useful to gather here some of the references to the painting, its discovery, and reception. - RBS

The Salvator Mundi is the first Leonardo painting to be discovered for over a century. This book looks at evidence of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi in the collections of Charles I and Charles II. It explores the appraisal of works by Leonardo at the Stuart courts, and proposes that works attributed to Leonardo were first encountered and understood in seventeenth-century Britain and would shape the wider evolution of Leonardo as a cultural icon. 

Features 

• Offers the definitive study on the re-discovered Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece, Salvator Mundi, the world’s most expensive painting 

• Recounts the story of the painting’s modern-day discovery and restoration 

• Delves into the painting’s dramatic history in the British royal collections of Charles I and Charles II 

Articles and Online Publications

News of the discovery of Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi began appearing at the end of May and beginning of June 2011. Several articles and internet postings reported the existence of the painting, but often with considerable inaccuracies, most alarmingly the illustration of the wrong painting. Those listed below are better informed, but inevitably there are some errors...

Scholarly Publications and Presentations on the Painting

Luke Syson

Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan, by Luke Syson, Larry Keith et. al., London , exh. cat. London 2011, pp. 282-3, 298-303, cat. no. 91.

• A pdf version of the catalogue entry.

The exhibition catalogue is available for purchase on the National Gallery Website and also available on Amazon.com.

Martin Kemp

• Leonardo (revised edition) Oxford 2011, especially pp. 208f, pl. 19. Available for purchase from Oxford University Press and also here on Amazon.com.

• Christ to Coke; How Image Becomes Icon, Oxford 2012, especially pp. 35f, fig. 1.12. Available for purchase here on Amazon.com.

• “Sight and Salvation,” in Nature, vol. 479, November 11, 2011, pp. 174-5.

Dianne Dwyer Modestini, Nica Gutman Rieppi and Robert Simon

...presented papers at the conference "Leonardo da Vinci: Recent Technical Finds and Discoveries," organized by the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts in New York on February 18, 2012.

• For a report on the conference, see Sophie Scully and Caitlin Breare,"Leonardo from London to New York; Two Conferences on Recent Technical and Historical Discoveries," NYU-IFA Conservation Center Newsgram, April 2012.

Fuller Discussions of the Salvator Mundi

H. Niyazi’s probing analysis in Three Pipe Problem (online)

• Platonic Receptacles

• Authorship and Dangers of Consensus

Bendor Grosvenor’s extensive coverage in Art History News (online):

• A new $200million Leonardo Discovery? (June 25, 2011)

• Salvator Mundi, National Gallery Statement (July 13, 2011)

• The Story Behind the Discovery of Leonardo (October 9, 2011)

• First Footage of Salvator Mundi (October 31, 2011)

• Leonardo Exhibition - an in depth review (November 8, 2011)

• Salvator Mundi, Dude (November 8, 2011)

• And now for something completely different... (November 9, 2011)

• Did Durer See Salvator Mundi? (November 15, 2011)

• Waldemar on Leonardo (November 16, 2011)

• Salvator Mundi - its all balls (November 21, 2011)

Andrew M. Goldstein, “The Male ‘Mona Lisa’?: Art Historian Martin Kemp on Leonardo da Vinci's Mysterious ‘Salvator Mundi,’ Artinfo (November 17, 2011)

Shelley Esaak, "A Closer Look at Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci," About.com.

Video & Radio Media Coverage

Da Vinci: The Lost Treasure

This hour-long documentary presented by Fiona Bruce was first broadcast on BBC1 on October 31, 2011. Produced by Roger Parsons and Julian Birkett

• The documentary can currently be viewed on Netflix.

• A description of the program.

• Some comments by Fiona Bruce.

Looking Back on Leonardo

From the National Gallery, London

"Experience the excitement of what was dubbed 'one of the exhibitions of the century' in this brand new retrospective of the 2011 show Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan.

Take a look back at this unprecedented exhibition – the first of its kind anywhere in the world – which brought together sensational international loans never before seen in the UK.

Hear exhibition curator Luke Syson reflecting on the significance of the historical show, as Larry Keith, Head of Conservation, Ashok Roy, Director of Science, and Nicholas Penny, Director of the National Gallery describe what they learnt from this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition." - from the National Gallery website.
 

Leonardo – The Lost Painting

This thirty-minute documentary was first broadcast on CNN International on November 11, 2011. Presented by Nick Glass

A description of the program and three excerpts are available for viewing online:

• http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/11/07/leonardo-da-vinci-christ-robert-simon.cnn

• http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2011/11/01/da-vinci-lost-painting-christ.cnn

• http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/11/09/leonardo-da-vinci-exhibition.cnn

A recent program from Nick Glass, 'Mona lisa 'twin' goes on display' (2/21/12), features an excerpt on the Salvator Mundi and a brief appearance by Robert Simon.
 

Leonardo Live

A live HD film of the exhibition opening by Sky Arts first broadcast in cinemas and on SkyArts November 8, 2011. It broadcasted internationally from February 16, 2012 on.

• In a BBC news segment about the broadcast, the actress Fiona Shaw can be seen discussing the Salvator Mundi at 2:29.

The Leonardo Detectives 

In this radio program, first broadcast November 7, 2011, on BBC4, Rachel Campbell-Johnson, chief art critic for The Times, discusses questions of art attribution, including the Salvator Mundi. It is also available as a podcast.

Voice of Russia

Andrew Hiller’s radio interview with Robert Simon on The Voice of Russia,broadcast November 19, 2011. This broadcast is no longer available.

Leonardo da Vinci exhibition: the rediscovery of Salvator Mundi (shown above)

Alistair Sooke, Art Critic of The Telegraph, speaks with curator Luke Syson about the Salvator Mundi. This video is no longer available.

Leonardo da Vinci –Painter at the Court of Milan

A seven-minute video featuring curator Luke Syson in conversation with presenter Joy Bolli inside the National Gallery exhibition. The Salvator Mundi is discussed at the 5:20 mark. This video is no longer available.

Leonardo da Vinci: 'An artist who deserves every bit of his fame'

Jonathan Jones, art critic for The Guardian, speaks about the National Gallery exhibition in this five-minute video filmed in the exhibition. His response to the Salvator Mundi is at 3:41.

BBC News broadcast: “Da Vinci Exhibition displays recently authenticated portrait”

David Sillito of the BBC with a misidentified Luke Syson (Salvator Mundi at 2:07).

Welt Ereignis DaVinci beglückt London

A German television report (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) from November 9, 2011 on the exhibition with comments from a special friend at 1:37. The Salvator Mundi appears at 1:55.

Leonardo alla National Gallery

Report from RAI television with comments on the Salvator Mundi from curator Arturo Galansino at :33.

Kulturzeit (shown above)

A 7-minute report on the exhibition broadcast on Kulturzeit 3sat. The Salvator Mundi is at 6:11.

Salvator Mundi IMF Video (shown above)

The music of Palestrina accompanies this 4 ½ minute look at the painting.

Salvator Mundi in Popular Culture

Wikipedia

Salvator Mundi has also now made appearances on Wikipedia!
See below for the two entries.

Salvator Mundi:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvator_Mundi_%28Leonardo_da_Vinci%29
List of works by Leonardo da Vinci:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_Leonardo_da_Vinci

Interviews with Robert Simon,
and Diane Dwyer Modestini

Ben Hoyle's interview with Robert Simon from the The Times, "It's kind of scary - I wrapped it in a bin liner and jumped in a taxi with it" published November 12, 2011.

Megan Doll's interview with Dianne Dwyer Modestini, "The Lost Leonardo; a Master's Priceless Work is Found" for NYU Alumni Magazine, Fall 2011.

Alessandro Cassin's interview with Robert Simon for L'Espresso, "Cosi si scopre un Leonardo" published on March 22, 2012.

Jean Dommermuth's interview with Dianne Dwyer Modestini in the NYU-IFA Conservation Center Newsgram, January 2012.

Artists Tony Curanaj and Edward Minoff speak with Robert Simon for their podcast Suggested Donation, September 16, 2015.

Steve Schindler and Katie Wilson-Milne, hosts of The Art Law Podcast, a monthly podcast that explores the places where art intersects with and interferes with the law, speak with Robert Simon about his discovery of the Salvator Mundi in Revisiting the Salvator Mundi, September 2020.

Interview with Dr. Margaret Dalivalle

Dr. Margaret Dalivalle with a portrait of King Charles II from the 17th century. Private Collection.

Reviews of Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milanat the National Gallery

The following are a few reviews written about the exhibition, Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan.