People photographed Salvator Mundi's painting that was on display. This painting is doubtful because the crystal ball brought by Jesus Christ does not deflect light.(Jerome Favre/EPA)
Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece invites intellectual debate because it is thought to give rise to a bizarre puzzle.
Salvator Mundi (World Savior) will be auctioned at Christie, New York, with an estimated price of 100 million US dollars
n the painting, Jesus Christ is portrayed in Renaissance attire and is blessing the world with His right hand. While his left hand holds a crystal ball.
Well, the debate is a study conducted by writer Leonardo da Vinci: the Biography, Walter Isaacson.
In his explanation, as The Guardian reported, Isaacson wondered why a Da Vinci known as a painter, scientist, inventor, and engineer did not include the scientific elements in his paintings.
Isaacson criticized the portion of the painting showing Jesus holding the crystal ball.
According to him, the mistake made by Da Vinci is that he does not take into account the optical distortion of the crystal ball.
If the lay eye sees through a crystal ball, it should be that both the hand and the line on Jesus' blue cloak seem to turn because of the refraction of light.
However, the painting shows no optical distortion between the hands of Jesus and his cloak.
"Leonardo painted the ball as if the ball was transparent so it did not cause any light," Isaacson said.
This is the irony Isaacson said.
For, in 1506-1513, the moment when Da Vinci completed Salvator Mundi, the artist from Firenze was interested in optical and light studies.
This, as quoted in The Guardian, made some circles begin to doubt the authenticity of the paintings that restored the London National Gallery in 2011.
Frank Zoellner, an expert from the University of Leipzig, Germany, said in 2013 that Salvator Mundi was "the work of Da Vinci's disciple, or perhaps the person who admired him."
British ArtWatch Director Michael Daley said wisely that Salvator Mundi was an empty, flat, can not explain anything, and Jesus' being "cut off haphazardly."
Responding to questions about the authenticity, Christie's Auctioneers say, if Da Vinci follows optical rules, then the background of his paintings should be distorted.
"Da Vinci's painting is known for its mystery and ambiguity," said Christie's official statement.
"In our opinion, he deliberately did not include optical distortion because it would disturb the object behind him," Christie continued.
