10. World’s Most Expensive Painting: $450.3 Million

Image courtesy Christie’s

Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, or “Savior of the World,” is a 25 7/8 x 18 inch oil on panel painting, featuring Jesus Christ gesturing a blessing with his right hand and holding a crystal orb—the world—in his left; it was painted around 1500, approximately the same time Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa. In 1958, mistaken as a copy, it sold at a Christie’s auction for $60; it was discovered to be an original in 2011, and consequently brought in $450.3 million (including fees) last year, the highest price for any work of art ever sold at auction, reports the New York Times.

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