Saudi Arabia to recreate Louvre in Riyadh, featuring $450m Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece

Saudi Arabia is reportedly planning to establish its own version of the Louvre museum in Riyadh, with the world-famous 'Salvator Mundi' by Leonardo da Vinci at the heart of its collection. 

This development was highlighted in a new BBC documentary about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, titled 'The Kingdom: The World’s Most Powerful Prince,' as reported by the Daily Mail on Tuesday.

According to Bernard Haykel, a professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University who spoke in the documentary, the crown prince expressed his ambition to build a grand museum in Riyadh, using the da Vinci masterpiece as a key attraction. 

The 'Salvator Mundi,' which was purchased by the crown prince for $450 million in 2017, has been stored in a Geneva vault for years but is now set to become the focal point of this ambitious cultural project.

The project aligns with Saudi Arabia's broader Vision 2030 initiative, led by Salman, which seeks to diversify the kingdom's economy away from its dependence on oil by bolstering sectors such as tourism. 

In 2023, Saudi Arabia attracted 27 million international tourists, surpassing its targets and setting its sights on 150 million visitors by 2030.

To realise this cultural vision, Saudi Arabia has enlisted the expertise of prominent art leaders, including Iwona Blazwick, former director of London's Whitechapel Gallery, and Hartwig Fischer, former director of the British Museum. 

This effort follows in the footsteps of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which opened in 2017 under an agreement between the UAE and France that permits the use of the Louvre name until 2047.

Saudi Arabia's ongoing cultural transformation has also seen the easing of restrictions on cinemas, gender-mixed events, and large-scale entertainment, as well as aspirations to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup.