‘Salvator Mundi’: Da Vinci's $100-M rediscovered painting of Christ goes on show

Members of Christie's staff in London pose for pictures next to Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" on October 24, 2017. The painting will be auctioned by Christie's in New York in November. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

It was sold for £45 (approximately $60) in 1958—and now it's worth an estimated $100 million.

Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi," a painting of Jesus Christ, has been hailed by auction house Christie's as "the greatest artistic rediscovery of the 21st century."

Currently on display at Christie's in London before its sale next month in New York, the artwork is one of fewer than twenty known paintings by Leonardo—and the only one owned privately.

Dating from around 1500, the oil on panel canvas depicts a half-length figure of Christ. The work was always believed to have existed but its whereabouts was widely unknown until it reemerged in 2005.

The painting was first recorded during the reign of King Charles I (1600 - 1649) and then disappeared from 1763 to 1900, when the figure's face and hair were over-painted with a beard and mustache.

In 1958 the altered work was sold for £45 at a Sotheby's sale before disappearing again until 2005, when it was purchased from an American estate at a small regional auction house.

Its rediscovery was followed by six years of intense research to document its authenticity with the world's leading authorities on the works and career of da Vinci.

Christie's has now put "Salvator Mundi" on tour, showing the painting at exhibitions in London, Hong Kong, New York and San Francisco. At the San Francisco display, thousands of people queued for hours to see the work.

The painting will be offered in Christie's Evening Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art on November 15, 2017 in Rockefeller Plaza. — Agence France-Presse