On Wednesday, November 15, a private collector paid a whopping $450.3 million for Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” a 15th-16th-century painting depicting Christ with one hand raised and the other holding a crystal sphere.
The record-breaking sale means that the painting is the most expensive of all time. It also means the painting will remain, at least for now, the only one of the 22 verified da Vinci paintings that isn’t available for public viewing.
While “Salvator Mundi” may be off limits, you can still put the other 21 on your bucket list. Here’s a list of where to go to see the rest of Leonardo’s paintings, and which of our tours will bring you there.
Italy
“Adoration of the Magi”
Italy gets the top prize for the most Leonardos: Eight of his known works are in Italy, with three of them at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, including the unfinished “Adoration of the Magi,” and one at the Vatican Museum in Rome.
Not only do they have the da Vincis, both museums are architectural and artistic marvels in their own right. You can visit both in our Art of France & Italy tour.
Milan and Parma share the other four paintings in Italy, the most famous being “The Last Supper” at the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Talk to your program coordinator about working a visit to the convent into any of our tours to Milan.
France
“St. John the Baptist”
France follows Italy with the most Leonardos in the world, with six on display at, you guessed it, The Louvre in Paris. The Louvre contains some of the most famous art in the world, including arguably the most famous, the “Mona Lisa.” In fact, a former art director of the Louvre speculated that 80% of its visitors only visit the “Mona Lisa” before leaving the museum.
We’d recommend that you spend a little more time there, especially to get a glimpse at “St. John the Baptist” and “The Virgin of the Rocks.” For a visit to the Louvre and some of da Vinci’s Italian works listed above, you can’t go wrong with our Art of France & Italy tour. However, don’t forget that any Paris tour can be customized to include a Louvre visit.
England
The National Gallery in London makes the list with two Leonardos, plus one that may have been partially painted by him. This includes the 6-foot tall “Virgin of the Rocks,” a later version of the one that appears at the Louvre, and “The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist,” a charcoal drawing that may have been an early sketch for a painting.
While you’re there, keep an eye out for “Tobias and the Angel.” Painted by Andrea del Verrocchio, the painting is said to include some work by Leonardo, including a fish and a dog.
Many of our tours to London include a visit to the National Gallery, but for a look at all of the art and architecture that the great city has to offer, check out Insider’s London.
The United States
“Ginevra de’ Benci”
You don’t have to go overseas to see priceless works of art: one of Leonardo da Vinci’s prized paintings is in the United States, at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Purchased in 1967 for $5 million, “Ginevra de’ Benci” is the only Leonardo on public view in the Americas.
Talk to your program coordinator about including a visit to the gallery on one of our Washington, D.C. tours.
The Rest of the World
- See “Benois Madonna and Madonna Litta” at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg on our Moscow & St. Petersburg tour.
- See “Madonna of the Carnation” at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich on our Bavaria in Depth tour.
- See “Lady with an Ermine” at the National Museum in Kraków. Talk to your program coordinator about adding it to our Central European History tour.
- See “The Madonna of the Yarnwinder” at the National Gallery in Edinburgh. Talk to your program coordinator about adding it to our London, Dublin & Edinburgh tour.
Want more info? Check out a full list of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings and where to find them, and browse our collection of art-focused tours on our site.