What's been tagged as “the Last Da Vinci” was sold on Wednesday evening, shattering the previous price record for any work of art sold at auction. The painting, “Salvator Mundi” – Latin for “Savior of the World” – was purchased for $450.3 million by an undisclosed buyer.
There is one Da Vinci work that no such private collector will be able to get his or her hands on, though. In fact, it was acquired for a figure much more public.
In the mid-19th century, the painting of “St. Jerome” was purchased for Pope Pius IX. The unfinished depiction was placed in the Vatican Pinacoteca, where it remains today in the Vatican Museums.
No matter how high a private buyer is willing to bid, this Da Vinci creation will remain priceless.
