In February 2019, renowned art historian Jacques Franck told the Sunday Telegraph that staff at the Louvre Paris believe it's not a true da Vinci. He also wrote to French President Emmanuel Macron, urging him to stop the artwork from being featured in a da Vinci exhibition at the Louvre.

In April 2021, a French documentary titled The Savior For Sale revealed that Louvre officials had doubted the work's provenance and, following examination of the painting, believed that da Vinci only contributed towards it.

This revelation came shortly after the compilation of an official yet undistributed book about the painting was prepared (reportedly "in case the Louvre got the chance to present the painting", according to The Art Newspaper) by the Louvre in 2019, attributing the work to the master. However, as the Louvre does not own the painting, it will neither confirm nor speculate on any findings.

Another art historian, Frank Zöllner, explains that the painting, which was badly damaged, had to undergo extensive restoration, making it difficult to assess the original quality of the work.

Discussing Salvator Mundi in the preface to his 2017 book Leonardo – the Complete Paintings and Drawings, Zöllner notes that the painting's "strongly developed sfumato technique" corresponds more closely to Bernadino Luini than the style of da Vinci himself.

Fortune or fake: art masterpieces the experts just can't agree on