Prices at the very top have risen far beyond what anyone could have imagined 10 years before, when the art market seemed on the verge of an extended fallow period.
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev is stirring the pot over the much-discussed painting in a project with Taner Ceylan at the Castello di Rivoli in Turin, Italy.
"Almost half a billion dollars is spent on a painting," the artist said, of the Leonardo sale last year. "How could those funds have been used to do good in the world?"