<p class="title">Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of Christ <span class="italic">Salvator Mundi</span> sold for a record-smashing $450.3 million on Wednesday at Christie's in New York, more than double the old mark for any work of art at auction.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The painting, only recently rediscovered and the last da Vinci left in private hands, fetched more than four times over the Christie's pre-sale estimate of about $100 million. It was more than twice the old auction record set by Picasso's <span class="italic">Les Femmes D'Alger</span>, which sold for $179.4 in May 2015.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><span class="italic">Salvator Mundi</span> was purchased by an unidentified buyer bidding via telephone after a protracted bidding war that stretched to nearly 20 minutes at the New York auction house. </p>
<p class="title">Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of Christ <span class="italic">Salvator Mundi</span> sold for a record-smashing $450.3 million on Wednesday at Christie's in New York, more than double the old mark for any work of art at auction.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The painting, only recently rediscovered and the last da Vinci left in private hands, fetched more than four times over the Christie's pre-sale estimate of about $100 million. It was more than twice the old auction record set by Picasso's <span class="italic">Les Femmes D'Alger</span>, which sold for $179.4 in May 2015.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><span class="italic">Salvator Mundi</span> was purchased by an unidentified buyer bidding via telephone after a protracted bidding war that stretched to nearly 20 minutes at the New York auction house. </p>