It was a work of art whose auction price totally exceeded everyone’s expectations. Painted by Leonardo da Vinci the Salvador Mundi (Latin for Saviour of the World) it is a picture of a serene looking Christ holding an orb and appears like he is about to give a blessing. It is only 1 of fewer than 20 Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings known to exist and the only one known to be in private hands. On Wednesday November 15th, 2017 it hammered down to a price of an astounding $400 million US dollars. With the fees and commissions the final price was $450,312,500 (around a half billion dollars Canadian). This makes it the most expensive painting ever.
From Christies Auction page on Twitter…the Salvador Mundi (Saviour of the World)
Nowadays a lot of auctions have gone on-line, But nothing can quite compare with the thrill and excitement of a live public auction. Just be careful that you don’t scratch your head because the auctioneer might think you are bidding. For my wife and myself pretty much our entire house was furnished from articles we bought at auctions when we first got married. Got some really nice furniture that was a lot cheaper than if we were to buy new in the furniture stores.
Typical farm auction. I went to a lot of these with my dad when I was growing up. Image source
It is quite interesting with some items that you view before the auction and you have a set price you will bid up to. But the item ends selling for a price that “goes through the roof”. And I am left wondering what value did the buyer see in that item that I might have missed.
An items value is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it. Image Source
Sometimes we may think we are not worth much. People can drag us through the mud and knock the wind out our sails. The world can be very cruel and that can hit us hard with our self worth. Jesus saw our value. He saw our worth. And the price that he paid was “through the roof” when he gave his own life for each one of us.
First Peter 1:18-19 reads, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ”.
And just think, the painting of Jesus on Salvador Mundi went for $450,000,000. But we can have the real thing for free.
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