A painting by Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci has been auctioned at a record price of $450 million (€382 million) at Christie's in New York.

This sale broke the record for the most expensive canvas in the world.

After 19 minutes of frenzied bidding, "Salvator Mundi", the last masterwork of the Renaissance artist, toppled Picasso's "Women of Algiers" which sold for $179.4 million in 2015.

The painting, which was painted around 1500, had been considered lost until it reappeared on the art market in 2013 and was traced to a private collector.

The painting represents Jesus Christ and was commissioned from the Italian painter by King Louis XII of France. Leonardi da Vinci is best known for his iconic painting  "Mona Lisa."

Christie’s auction house has confirmed that the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism had acquired the masterpiece to display it in the Louvre Abu Dhabi, considered the UAE's pre-eminent art museum.