Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bought Jesus Christ Paint with $450m

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the actual buyer of a painting of Jesus by Leonardo da Vinci that sold for a record -breaking $ 450 million at auction last month , The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday .

The young crown prince, known by his initials MBS , used an intermediary to buy the much -sought - after painting of Christ , “Salvator Mundi, ” the newspaper reported , citing US intelligence and other unnamed sources.

The son of Saudi King Salman is seen to be progressively consolidating his power and is the architect of a wide - ranging plan dubbed Vision 2030 to bring social and economic change to his country ’ s oil- dependent economy .

American officials are keeping close tabs on the crown prince , the paper said, citing unnamed sources.

On Wednesday, the Louvre Abu Dhabi announced that the record - breaking Da Vinci painting would be displayed there .

The reports come shortly after the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia announced the formation of a new military and economic committee , separate from the Gulf Cooperation Council .

In recent years , Qatar has been the biggest player in the Gulf art world , but in June , Saudi Arabia and some of its allies broke off diplomatic and trade relations with Doha, which they accuse of supporting extremist movements .

“Salvator Mundi” — dated to around 1500 — is the last known Da Vinci in the hands of a private collector. It was long believed to be a copy but was finally authenticated about a dozen years ago.