Gasps were audibly heard in the room as the bidding war escalated, but the buyer remains shrouded in secrecy.
A painting from Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci is the most expensive work of art ever sold, but who bought it?
The intense bidding war broke out over the phone at Christie’s New York auction house Wednesday where the painting sold for $400 million plus another $50 million in fees.
Da Vinci created the painting of Jesus more than 500 years ago for the king of France. It was lost for more than two centuries. Then, in 1958, it was sold for $60 to a private collector from Louisiana.
In 2005, art collector Robert Simon acquired it for $10,000 during an estate sale.
Later, Simon found out he had stumbled onto one of the art world's greatest treasures.
He told Inside Edition that he didn't realize it was a da Vinci at first, and it needed more than two years of restoration to bring it back to life.
The portrait of Jesus is called "Salvator Mundi" or "savior of the world."
Christie's is not revealing who won the painting.
