Washington Post – “Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, “Saviour of the World,” sold for $450,312,500 Wednesday at auction, Christie’s said. The price, which includes a buyer’s premium, makes it “the most expensive painting ever sold at auction,” the auction house said in a statement. The previous record for the most expensive painting sold at auction was $179,364,992 for Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger,” according to Christie’s. The highest price previously paid at auction for a da Vinci was in 2001 for his “Horse and Rider,” which went for $11,481,865. The bidding for “Saviour of the World,” (“Salvator Mundi”), coordinated out of Christie’s New York office, lasted a little less than 20 minutes, with two final bidders battling it out. The bids, jumped from $370 million to $400 million and then to the final astronomical price. The identity of the winning bidder was not known. “Saviour of the World” is one of some 16 known surviving paintings — including the “Mona Lisa” — by da Vinci, the master of the Italian Renaissance. The others are scattered throughout the world’s museums…”