Salvator Mundi. Do you know ‘him’? Stop reading. Google that name…
Welcome back. What did you find?
Ha ha… I bet you thought Salvator Mundi is a person right? It is a painting. Possibly the most expensive painting in the world. It sold at nearly half a billion dollars $450.3 million – (over 180 trillion Naira) in November 2017. I am not talking about some decade ago. That’s just less than 3 years ago.
I thought paintings craving was a thing only among the sophisticated elite of olden days. I mean, in this day and age, I’m surprised that there are people so enthusiastic about paintings that they don’t mind spending a fortune on it! One person bought the Salvator Mundi painting – one individual.
Have you seen that painting yourself? It is a depiction of Jesus Christ holding a crystal ball.
Nothing extraordinary about it to an untrained eye. Like many people, I bear little sentiments for artworks. In fact, I have seen Jesus look better and finer in some other paintings than in the Salvator Mundi.
It staggers my brain – why did that painting (and many others of its kind) go for such a high price? Or why a painting like No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) – a simple combination of three coloured rectangles would sell for $186 million (NGN72,540,000,000)?
The answer to this question is usually inscribed, almost unnoticeably, in a corner of the painting – the artist’s name. In Salvator Mundi’s case, we’re staring at the magnum opus of the highly famed Renaissance man, Leonardo Da Vinci.
What does this imply? It means my very talented friend who paints in a roadside corner of Allen Avenue might be able to produce a better portrait of Jesus with even much more details than Van Gogh or Rembrandt, but he is probably not going to get it sold for one-millionth the value of the Salvador Mundi. That’s unfair you say. Sadly so! Nobody knows him. But everybody who is anybody knows Da Vinci. It would even be considered a huge risk for anyone to have his paintings hung in their houses. Such invaluable oeuvres are best kept in special compartments of heavily guarded museums. Any attempt at touching (much more stealing) them could come at the cost of one’s life.
I’ve said too much for an art-dispassionate. So, what’s my point? Here: an artist’s name/signature determines how valuable it is.
The same is true of you and me. We are priceless simply because of the Artist that created us – God. We are His masterpiece – every single one of us and that includes the serial killer who targets babies or the bully who never lets you eat your snack in peace.
We have messed up the world. We have broken God’s order on earth. Yet we still bear his mark. His seal of approval. Trust me, that is priceless. You are priceless. Half a billion dollars is too small a price on your head. God made you for a purpose that is bigger than you or any money can quantify.
You may have messed up. We all have at one time or the other. But you can make amends. You can bring out that hidden, unnoticeable signature of God tucked away inside of you and make it known to the world. You don’t get there in one day. But if you commit to taking simple baby steps daily. You will some day become the perfect image of God on earth.
That should guide how we treat ourselves and others, especially people we don’t like. God loves us all. We didn’t choose Him. He chose us. We bear His signature, not because we are good, but because He made us and that fact makes you and me the most priceless work of art in the universe.
Feature image: Thanks to Anastase Maragos for sharing their work on Unsplash.
