A painting of Jesus Christ has sold for a whopping R6.5 billion.
The rediscovered painting by Leonardo da Vinci became the most expensive work yet sold - $450.3m (almost R6.5bn) - at a Christie’s auction in New York on Wednesday.
Alex Rotter, the auction house’s co-chairman of post-war and contemporary art in the Americas, placed the winning bid on behalf of an unidentified client after a 19-minute war that saw offers of $200m, $300m and $350m fall short.
Previously, $179.4m was paid for a Pablo Picasso painting in 2015.
The Da Vinci was being sold by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev’s family trust, who bought it for $127.5m in 2013.