Abu Dhabi (AFP)
Louvre Abu Dhabi celebrated Monday its two years, without the "Salvator Mundi", the most expensive painting in the world attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and missing since its sale in 2017.
Acquired officially to complete the collection of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, this painting of 65 cm by 45, where Christ emerges from darkness blessing with one hand the world while holding a transparent globe in the other, never reappeared in public since his record sell at $ 450 million (408 million) at Christie's.
It was to be exhibited in September 2018 but the museum had announced the sine die postponement of the exhibition, to everyone's surprise.
Asked Monday by AFP on this table, the director of Louvre Abu Dhabi Manuel Rabaté replied that "it is a question to address the city", in reference to the authorities of the emirate.
The Ministry of Culture of the United Arab Emirates, which had previously assured that Abu Dhabi was "owner" of the painting, did not respond to AFP's solicitations.
Experts believe that the painting is in the reserves of Louvre Abu Dhabi, others say that it never arrived, the one evoking "a museum in Geneva."
According to Kenny Schachter, a collector based in London, the painting would sail aboard the yacht "Serene" Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed ben Salmane.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi, inaugurated with great pomp in November 2017 by French President Emmanuel Macron, is the first branch outside France of the famous museum.
"We are very proud to have reached two million visitors," Rabaté told AFP on Monday on the museum's second anniversary. "It shows that we have found our place in Abu Dhabi and in Emirati society".
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