A Leonardo da Vinci Painting Just Sold for $450 Million. Here’s How Experts Figured Out It Was Real

For a painting worth nearly half a billion dollars, Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi is far from perfect.

The 500-year-old portrait of Jesus Christ has a shady past that includes ownership by King Charles I, a 160-year disappearing act and a sale for only thousands of dollars just 12 years ago.

It is damaged and was heavily repainted, then restored. And at least one prominent da Vinci expert is on record saying he doesn't believe da Vinci was the primary artist behind it.