Since its sale at Christie’s in 2017, Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi has been the subject of ongoing debate and questions. In 2021, curators at the Prado announced their doubts over the attribution in their exhibition catalogue for ‘Leonardo and the copy of the Mona Lisa. New Approaches to the artist’s studio practices’. In 2019, the Louvre controversially pulled the painting from their Leonardo da Vinci exhibition.

Not only are there questions over the attribution of the painting, but it is also not even entirely clear where the painting currently is. After being purchased by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2017 for a record-breaking $450.3m, The Times claimed that art historian Martin Kemp had informed them that the Saudi government was building an art gallery to house the painting, although Kemp later said that he had “no incontrovertible evidence about the ownership or location of the painting.”

But these issues are not standing in the way of an NFT being released of the painting, minted by ElmonX in collaboration with Bridgeman Images. The partnership has released a number of other NFTs, including Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night (1889), Leonardo’s Mona Lisa (1503), Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker (1904) and Claude Monet’s Nymphéas (Water Lillies) (1907). A spokesperson for Bridgeman Images said that “[as] the world’s leading specialists in licensing fine art, cultural, and historical media for reproduction, [we] are delighted to collaborate with ElmonX, experts at the forefront of NFT art creation.” They added that the partnership offers a “unique and exclusive opportunity to create high-quality NFTs based on Bridgeman Images’ vast collection.”

On 12 August, it was announced that 660 Salvator Mundi NFTs would be released priced at £150, with 13 ‘artist proof’ editions paired with matching physical museum-quality prints priced at £1100.