Leonardo da Vinci's world-record painting, "Salvator Mundi," embarks on a digital voyage, minted as an NFT by ElmonX in collaboration with Bridgeman Images. The iconic piece sees blockchain immersion in two exclusive versions dropping on Aug. 12.

ElmonX and Bridgeman Images will work side by side as Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" painting starts its digital journey as an NFT. As per Crypto Files, the artwork was auctioned at Christie's in 2017, and it fetched a massive $450.3 million, and with this amount, it has become the most expensive painting in the world.

And now, this controversial painting is being turned into a digital asset. The art piece shows Jesus Christ holding a crystal orb, and its exact location is said to be unknown at the moment.

ElmonX is a digital collectibles platform that has been collaborating with top artists and brands to create limited-edition collections. On the other hand, Bridgeman Images is a leading company specializing in licensing fine art, cultural and historical media for reproduction. They are teaming up to transform Leonardo Da Vinci's painting and bring it to the blockchain sphere.

The "Salvator Mundi" NFT is set to be released in two versions: the Original and the Artist Proof. The first option will include an animated rendition of the painting complete with 360-degree rotation. This will be sold in just 660 units and was priced at $190.

For the second version, the Artist Proof, only 13 units are coming to the market, and each piece is priced at $1,400 or about £1,100. This will also come with an access grant to the physical museum-quality pictorial depth print, which is 65.7 cm. x 45.7 cm in size - the same measurement as the original painting.

Both editions of the "Salvator Mundi" NFT are dropping on Saturday, Aug. 12, at 9 a.m. PT. Interested parties may see them on the ElmonX platform. Meanwhile, commenting on the NFT release, the spokesperson of Bridgeman Images told The Art Newspaper that the deal's financial terms with ElmonX are confidential.

"But we license the images to ElmonX in much the same way that we would for any commercial project," he said. "We license high-quality images and videos to advertisers, filmmakers, publishers, and designers across all industries."

Photo by: Andrey Metelev/Unsplash