Official: Saudi Arabia to build special museum for da Vinci’s painting

The Wall Street Journal revealed that Saudi Arabia plans to build a special museum to display Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” painting.

The journal quoted Saudi Deputy Minister of Culture, Hamid Bin Mohammed Fayez, as saying that the kingdom plans to build the museum to display the Salvator Mundi painting it bought three years ago for $450 million.

According to the journal, Saudi Arabia has announced billions of dollars worth of projects in the fields of culture and the arts, noting that the plans include building more than 12 art institutions.

The portrait of Christ, which became the most expensive painting ever after a sale by Christie’s auction house, was scheduled to be on display at a new branch of the Louvre in Abu Dhabi from 18 September 2018 but this was delayed. The authorities did not specify a reason for the postponement.

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