The Last Da Vinci
Christies
Selling Leonardo’s Salvador Mundi for 450MM
In Autumn 2017, Christie’s approached us to help them sell Leonardo da Vinci’s 'Salvator Mundi', the first work by Leonardo to ever go to auction. We had to find a way to get to the small group of people who could afford it, pique their interest, drive up the price and make the auction a sensation. We decided that to get to that handful of billionaires, we needed to show them what this work meant to the rest of us.
Beginning with a name that implied urgency, we then controversially placed this private painting on public display for one last time and secretly captured the real-life reactions of all who came to see it.
Direction, Creative Direction
Case Study A short film showing how the whole campaign came together.
The film
We decided to break the typical trope of over-shared artwork, and turn the camera around to show the power, meaning and reverence that a painting like this evokes in all of us. Teaming up with Nadav Kander, we created a moving video portrait of real people and their reactions from hidden camera footage as they came to see the work on its global tour. The film sits at 4:14s to match the number of the bible passage , John 4.14 ‘Savior of the world’.
This film was released two days before the auction.
The world is watching We took the painting on a controversial world tour, and with the camera hidden and the lighting built into spacial design itself - we captured every face that looked upon the artwork.
Following Christ on Instagram As we captured people, and before we released the film, we shared still portraits on the paintings own Instagram account. With people having to ‘Follow Christ’ to see them. This meant more people came to see the painting and the buzz continued to increase.
