The owners of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci that has been at the Dallas Museum of Art for much of this year as the museum tried to raise funds to acquire the work have rejected the offer presented by the museum.
In a release, a museum spokesperson says the painting, Salvator Mundi, has been returned to the owners after weeks of negotiation between the undisclosed owners and the museum failed to produce an agreeable price. From the spokesperson:
While the Museum’s leadership was hopeful that the painting would be acquired for the benefit and enjoyment of the public, they are incredibly inspired by and grateful for the outpouring of community support for the campaign to acquire this work. Through the tremendous generosity and vision of its many patrons, the Museum was able to raise tens of millions of dollars for the campaign in just a few short months. The DMA is looking forward to working with its growing constituency on new opportunities in 2013.
As we reported last week, part of the new DMA director Maxwell Anderson’s stated intention of bringing the Leonardo painting to the museum was to “raise the bar” on what kinds of artwork the museum could consider acquiring.
