Leonardo_da_Fractions_Giraffe sells for $450m (four hundred and fifty million dollars)

[Lord of the Fraud]

For this thing





Sold at Sotheby's in New York last night. The previous record was $179m.

There's quite an interesting story behind this piece and how it made its journey to yesterday's auction - but here's the gist

Once owned by King Charles I, it disappeared from view until 1900, when it resurfaced and was acquired by a British collector. At that time it was attributed to a Leonardo disciple, rather than to the master himself.

The painting was sold again in 1958 and then acquired in 2005, badly damaged and partly painted-over, by a consortium of art dealers who paid less than $10,000. The art dealers restored the painting and documented its authenticity as a work by Leonardo.

The painting was sold on Wednesday evening by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, who bought it in 2013 for $127.5m.

[sonatine]

Its fugazi, btw.

90% of it has been 'restored', badly, and there is significant concern that the original painting is not a De Vinci at all.

[herbertstemple]

Art is for suckers.