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New York - The painting by Leonardo Da Vinci, which was auctioned for a record-breaking $450.3 million (9.8 billion crowns) in mid-November, will be on display at the recently opened branch of the Louvre in Abu Dhabi. This was reported today by the AFP agency, citing the museum itself. The work of the Renaissance painter titled Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World) is the most expensive painting ever sold at auction worldwide.

The painting, created by Da Vinci around 1500, depicts Jesus Christ in Renaissance attire, with his right hand raised and a crystal orb in his left hand. The painting was first listed in the collection of English King Charles I Stuart in the early 17th century, but it later disappeared and reappeared in 1900 as a work attributed to Leonardo's follower Bernardino Luini.

In 2005, art historians confirmed it as a work of the versatile Renaissance artist Da Vinci, although some experts still doubt this. The rediscovery of the painting caused worldwide sensation. Currently, fewer than twenty surviving canvases are attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci.

It is still unclear who purchased the painting for the record amount in mid-November. According to The New York Times, the new owner is the lesser-known Saudi prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Farhan Saud. The auction house Christie's stated that it does not disclose buyers' identities without their consent. Neither does the museum in Abu Dhabi, where the Savior of the World will be displayed, provide any information about the owner.

The museum in the capital of the United Arab Emirates was inaugurated in early November by French President Emmanuel Macron. The building, which was constructed on an artificial island, was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. For the right to use the name Louvre until 2037, the United Arab Emirates will pay the Paris "mother" 400 million euros (10.2 billion crowns).

The museum in Abu Dhabi has six hundred works in its collection and exhibits an additional three hundred as loans from France. Among them is already one portrait painted by Leonardo Da Vinci: La Belle Ferronière from the late 15th century.

According to the auction house Christie's, Salvator Mundi's auction price has dethroned Pablo Picasso's Women of Algiers as the most expensive painting sold at auction, which was sold for $179.4 million (currently 3.9 billion crowns) in 2015.