‘A Peece of Christ done by Leonardo’ and ‘A lords figure. in halfe.’

Abstract

Chapter 7 opens the third section of the book, which discusses the collecting and reception of Leonardo da Vinci in Stuart Britain. The chapter summarizes the key documentation, placing it in historical context. It focuses on the presence of two paintings of Christ, as Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci documented in the collection of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria. It reviews the historical backdrop of seventeenth-century England, outlining the key documentation of the two paintings, and signals the central problems: how can we distinguish between these two paintings, and can they be identified? The chapter discusses the sale of the royal art collection, 1649–53, and its documentation, and introduces the individuals through whose hands the two paintings passed.