They were clearing out a storeroom — then they found a Da Vinci worth $450 million
Susan Hendry Tureau was stunned to get $10,000 for it, until the real appraiser showed her it was worth millions.
Susan Hendry Tureau was going through her late father, Basil Clovis Hendry Sr.'s, belongings in Louisiana when she found an intriguing painting of Jesus Christ. Hendry loved collecting antique stuff, so his daughter wasn't really surprised to find an entire pile of relics at his residence. However, she knew she couldn't keep everything, so Tureau decided to select a few for herself and sell the rest. A year later, she got all the paintings appraised; Tureau wasn't really surprised by their values except for that painting of Jesus Christ, which she found was worth almost half a billion, according to History.
The painting was beautiful but had worn out over time; in fact, it almost looked cartoonish, and Tureau wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible. She put it up for auction and was astonished to see people quoting over $2,000 for a painting she thought was deteriorating. In the end, the painting of Jesus Christ was sold for nearly $10,000. Tureau was shocked, but she didn't think about it much and eventually moved on until she received a call a few years later. One after the other, many media personnel called her to question her about the Jesus painting she had sold at the auction. Soon enough, Tureau found out that it was no ordinary painting. In fact, it was Leonardo da Vinci's painting of Christ as the world's savior, "Salvator Mundi." The discovery was only after the new owners cleaned the painting and removed the dark layers of heavy paint from the surface. "We can't believe it, that such an incredible piece could have been in our family, and we didn't even know it all this time. It just sort of brings me alive," Tureau told The Wall Street Journal.
She shared that her father, Hendry, had acquired the painting from his aunt, Minnie Stanfil Kuntz, after her husband, Warren E. Kuntz, died in 1968. The couple often traveled to Europe, and must have purchased it during one of their trips abroad. Records suggest that Mr. and Mrs. Kuntz returned from London in 1958 when Sotheby's was selling items from the estate of Sir Francis Cook, including the Jesus Christ painting. Interestingly, it was then believed to be a painting by one of da Vinci's students, Giovanni Boltraffio. Tureau said she doubts her family knew the painting's origin because it had been heavily painted over. Records also show that it once belonged to King Charles I of England, and after he died in 1649, the painting was passed from one owner to another several times. In 2017, the Salvator Mundi was auctioned again, and this time, a member of the Saudi royal family purchased it for $450.3 million. And that's how a once-discarded painting that fetched $10,000 became the most valuable piece of art in history.
Just like the Louisiana family, many don't really know the value of 'inherited' heirlooms from friends or family. Research from Zurich found that 53% of Brits have inherited heirlooms, but only 40% have had these items professionally valued. While the most commonly inherited heirloom was jewelry (51%), other top heirlooms were antiques (26%), art/paintings (13%), war medals (12%), and coins/banknotes (12%).
Meanwhile, reacting to the discovery of the da Vinci painting, for instance, @jenniferfarvour4852 commented, "Hopefully it goes back to someone in the Da Vinci family. It is funny that people make a purchase and the artist may not be around, but they don't get to enjoy what we do today. If that is his work, it should be in a beautiful museum where he lived." Similarly, @johnsonk_oo joked, "That girl will never sleep again." @arizonasquatch suggested, "It's most likely from the studio of DaVinci."
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