"Salvator Mundi," a Leonardo da Vinci painting of Christ that recently sold for a record $ 450 million, is heading to the Louvre Abu Dhabi in a coup for the bold new museum, announced Wednesday. The move became possible after a little-known Saudi award would have bought the painting last month. The Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first museum to bear the name of the Louvre outside France, was presented as "the first universal museum in the Arab world", a sign of the global ambitions of the oil-rich emirate. "Da Vinci's Salvator Mundi is coming to #LouvreAbuDhabi," the museum said on Twitter in Arabic, English and French. The post displayed a picture of the 500-year-old work but did not identify its owner. Christie's also categorically refused to identify the buyer, whose purchase in New York for $ 450.3 million stunned the art world. "Congratulations," said Christie's in a tweeted response to Louvre Abu Dhabi. Wednesday's New York Times, citing documents it has examined, identified the buyer as Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud, whose country banned the official worship of Christ or any other religion except Islam. Prince Bader has no history as a major art collector, but is a friend and associate of the powerful Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, the Times said.
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