Russian billionaire Rybolovlev loses lawsuit against Sotheby's auction house

'Salvator Mundi of discord': Russian oligarch loses fraud case against Sotheby's

The US federal court has finally ruled on the long-standing case of 'Salvator Mundi', painted on oil by Leonardo da Vinci for years it has been the subject of disputes and disputes due to the numerous known versions of the same subject.

Even before earning headlines as the master's masterpiece (dating between 1505 and 1515), the Salvator Mundi made headlines throughout the world for having been beaten by Christie'sin November 2017 at a whopping $450.3 million, including auction fees. A record sum for a historic sale that made the painting the most expensive work of art ever purchased by a private individual.

But from that very moment, for Da Vinci's Jesus Christ, there was no more respite: after having gone through the history (and embellished the homes) of the great European crowns, having lost track of himself for years (it seems in the deposits of some museum). And, again, after having passed through the hands of some of the richest families of the world's jet set, the controversial canvas was no longer able to avoid the spotlight of the global media circus.

The ruling made on Tuesday by an American federal jury evidently suggests that curiosity and gossip will once again focus on the famous canvas. The judges on paper finally have closed the case that he saw Russian billionaire oligarch Dmitri Rybolovlev is suing the well-known English auction house to have it defrauded of tens of millions of dollars on art sales. In particular, the oligarch accused Sotheby's of having conspired with the Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier to convince him to pay exorbitant prices for four works, among these the famous depiction of Christ in the version attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.

The “Salvator Mundi” — the world's most expensive painting — is also the subject of a $1 billion battle between a Russian oligarch and a Swiss art dealer, which is set to heat up again. https://t.co/9mWbPxw0Pn pic.twitter.com/AyUgiI9QPb

— CNN International (@cnni) June 1, 2021

Sotheby's, he maintained for a long time that he had not plotted with the merchant and that he had not known of the existence of relations between Bouvier and the magnate and obviously could not be held accountable. The American broadcaster CNN gave relevance to the court's ruling last night, also recalling the origins of the immense fortunes of the oligarch – entrepreneur in the fertilizer sector – who also holds the majority shares of theAs Monaco Football.Sotheby's reacted to the victory with the understatement that characterizes its history: “The verdict is in line with our commitment to uphold the highest standards of integrity, ethics and professionalism“, in the “obvious” absence of evidence that Rybolovlev was cheated

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