Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism announced that they will display Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece Salvator Mundi at Louvre Abu Dhabi.
The work, hailed as one of the greatest artistic rediscoveries of the last 100 years, will go on display alongside another da Vinci masterpiece, La Belle Ferronnière, which is currently on loan from musée du Louvre.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi will be displayed at Louvre Abu Dhabi. Picture: Supplied.
Painted by one of history’s greatest and most renowned artists, Salvator Mundi is one of fewer than 20 known surviving paintings by the Italian Renaissance master.
Dating from around 1500, it is an oil on panel painting depicting a half-length figure of Christ as Saviour of the World, facing the viewer, and dressed in flowing robes of lapis and crimson. The figure holds a crystal orb in his left hand as he raises his right hand in benediction.
Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Mohamed Al Mubarak, said they were delighted to display Salvator Mundi, part of Leonardo da Vinci’s rich legacy, at Louvre Abu Dhabi.
“This is in line with our ambition to share this extraordinary museum with the world, and our mission to inspire a new generation of cultural leaders and creative thinkers to contribute to our rapidly-changing and tolerant nation.”
Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, Manuel Rabaté, said the masterpiece fit perfectly into the narrative of Louvre Abu Dhabi.
The museum is also preparing to open its inaugural special exhibition, From One Louvre to Another: Opening a Museum for Everyone, on December 21, 2017. It traces the history of musée du Louvre in Paris in the 18th century. Some of these will be exhibited alongside 300 works on loan from 13 leading French institutions.