Since Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi sold for an eye-watering $450m at Christie's last week, not a day goes by without a new revelation or reaction about the painting popping up in the news feeds. But by far the best response to the sale of the world's most expensive work of art has to be from Ikea. They released an advert this week showing the work in one of its gold Virserum frames, which costs $9.99, with the strapline "When you spend $450 million on a painting but don't like the frame".
In the Swedish company's press release they call the Salvator Mundi "a may-or-may-not-be Leonardo da Vinci painting" and equate the sale price to "slightly more than 15 million Billy Bookcases", referring to one of its most popular products. “At Ikea, we believe anyone should have the possibility to decorate their home without spending their life savings,” says Morten Kjaer, the creative director at Ikea Creative Hub. “That’s why Ikea offers a range of frames that work with any photo, print or painting you want to show off, even those from the 1490s.”