{"id":4054,"date":"2017-12-22T13:02:06","date_gmt":"2017-12-22T18:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?p=4054"},"modified":"2018-01-25T14:53:19","modified_gmt":"2018-01-25T19:53:19","slug":"n-wanted-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/ponte-vedra\/n-wanted-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"This \u2018n That | All I Wanted for Christmas\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mims Cushing<\/em>
\nmail@floridanewsline.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

So. Christmas is done for another year. I truly hope you opened a present that you wanted. I did not. I had my eyes on that Salvator Mundi (\u201cSavior of the World\u201d) by Da Vinci. I don\u2019t have a single Da Vinci on my walls.\u00a0<\/span>I figured it would make a nice conversation piece if I ever had a neighborhood coffee klatch. I\u2019d pour coffee and pass shortbread cookies.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHave you seen my DaVinci? It\u2019s in the family room near the TV. Come take a look,\u201d I\u2019d chat, airily pointing in the direction of where my favorite handyman had centered it over the fireplace.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heck, it would be perfectly safe in my home. I mean, I do live in a gated community. The painting would have made a nice companion piece for my artwork from a fellow in Westport, Conn., who paints scenes of Nantucket and Cape Cod. It\u2019s decently framed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The history of this painting is so complicated it makes the eyes blur. Ponte Vedra NewsLine would have to add an extra page to the newspaper if I\u2019d written about it. The short version of the money trail is that DaVinci sold for $450.3 million on Nov. 15, 2017 at a Christie\u2019s auction. I\u2019ve read that $50 million of that amount went toward \u201cfees.\u201d Is that like shipping and handling? <\/span><\/p>\n

The bidding war lasted 19 minutes. It\u2019s a tiny fellow, this painting, only 15\u201d x 17\u201d and is 500 years young. It was owned by King Charles I and went missing for many years. At one point in the \u201850s a man picked it up for less than $200. (Did I get that right? Yes, I did.) He bought it for that paltry sum at an estate sale \u2014 well, as least it wasn\u2019t at a yard sale. <\/span><\/p>\n

At another estate sale, jumping ahead to 2005, it sold for less than $10,000. Then in 2011 a Swiss art dealer bought it for $80 million. Now we\u2019re talking serious money. That is its provenance, more mundanely known as \u201chistory.\u201d In 2013 it was sold for $75 million to a Swiss dealer and later to a Russian collector for $127.5 million.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to the sale this past year at Christie\u2019s, it took six men four years to prove to the art world that it was legit. They used x-rays and infrared and ultraviolet technology. Perhaps they gave it a CT scan and MRI for good measure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scholars found that the painter used lapis lazuli, a rare blue pigment as expensive as gold back when Da Vinci was out and about. Blue is my favorite color, the predominant one in my house. This painting is meant to be with me.<\/span><\/p>\n

One art historian came up with this snarky comment \u201cThe composition is not a Da Vinci. It\u2019s good studio work\u2026 but very damaged.\u201d What a spoilsport. What a killjoy!<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh well. I was looking forward to popping it gently off the wall one Sunday and nestling it in a cozy quilt in the back of my SUV. I\u2019d lovingly drive it over to my church to let the folks have a look-see. <\/span><\/p>\n

The good news is my birthday is right around the corner so there\u2019s still hope. Happy New Year everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mims Cushing mail@floridanewsline.com So. Christmas is done for another year. I truly hope you opened a present that you wanted. I did not. I had my eyes on that Salvator Mundi (\u201cSavior of the World\u201d) by Da Vinci. I don\u2019t have a single Da Vinci on my walls.\u00a0I figured it would make a nice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-4054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ponte-vedra","8":"tag-lifestyle","9":"tag-mims-cushing"},"yoast_head":"\nThis \u2018n That | All I Wanted for Christmas\u2026 - Florida NewsLine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ponte Vedra NewsLineBy Mims Cushing mail@floridanewsline.com So. Christmas is done for another year. 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