Paris (AFP)

The "Salvator Mundi", the most expensive painting in the world, would it finally be the hand of Leonardo da Vinci?

Speculations have been revived even more in recent days.

A documentary, broadcast Tuesday on France 5, affirms that for the Louvre, it is a work of workshop, with a minimal contribution of the master of the Italian Renaissance.

But several surveys published in the last 48 hours in the media support the opposite, relying on confidential documents.

Saudi Arabia, owner of the painting, had asked France to assess the painting before a possible loan for the great Leonardo da Vinci retrospective at the Louvre (October 2019 - February 2020).

The Louvre houses the C2RMF, a state-of-the-art laboratory for the analysis of works of art.

The painting stayed there for three months, in 2018.

"The Louvre and the C2RMF have reached the opposite conclusion to that of the documentary: for them, the painting is indeed by Leonardo's hand, and only his", writes Didier Rykner in the magazine La Tribune de l'Art, at the origin of several revelations on the subject.

"The communication of this information to the Saudis would have taken place in September 2019".

In an article published Monday, the New York Times added: "The Louvre certified that the painting was a work of Leonardo, but it kept the conclusions secret after a dispute with its owners."

- Next to the Mona Lisa -

In a book co-published by Hazan and Les Editions du Louvre, the patron of the Louvre Jean-Luc Martinez and the curator Vincent Delieuvin confirm the attribution of the painting to the Italian master.

But this book is only on sale for one day at the museum bookstore, before being hastily withdrawn, according to Didier Rykner, once all hope of a loan of the painting by Saudi Arabia has been abandoned.

The expert in old paintings Eric Turquin reports that he has never heard the Louvre curators doubt.

"Certainly," he told AFP, "the Salvator Mundi was very damaged and much of it had been redone by an American restorer, but it is genuine. The hand of Christ is great, magnificent."

These are Saudi demands that would have prevented the integration of the painting in the great Leonardo da Vinci exhibition in winter 2019-2020.

Saudi Prince Mohammed ben Salman wanted the work to be exhibited alongside the Mona Lisa in the Hall of States.

The museum curators were opposed to it, says Didier Rykner, because of "security and affluence problems", with these two highly publicized paintings side by side.

On the other hand, if they felt that this painting obviously had its place in the exhibition, the curators also thought that there was no reason to make it the most important painting in the retrospective, even if it had been sold at a record price, adds the journalist and art historian.

- $ 1,175 -

It was planned to install the Salvator Mundi within the exhibition, then to mount it in the States Room.

But this solution was not adopted and the Saudis definitively refused the loan of the web.

The documentary, which will be broadcast on France 5 Tuesday at 8.50 p.m., affirms that the expertise carried out at the C2RMF laboratory concludes with a "contribution" - and only that - from the great Italian master.

The Louvre refuses to confirm or deny the press information, invoking the prohibition to discuss the authenticity of a work that has not been exhibited within it: the director of the documentary "Antoine Vitkine had requested the Louvre but we did not wish to answer his questions, the table not having been loaned during the retrospective ", we told AFP.

This painting keeps its mystery and has not been shown in public since its sale.

We do not know until where he is.

Some mention his presence on Prince ben Salman's private yacht.

Bought in 2005 in poor condition for only $ 1,175 by a New York art dealer, this painting had been restored, presented at an exhibition at the National Gallery in 2011, bought by a Russian oligarch, who then had it. resold.

It made global headlines when it was auctioned off in November 2017 for the record $ 450 million.

The buyer had remained anonymous but would be none other than the young Saudi prince, "MBS".

© 2021 AFP