Under the hammer: record art auctions

A 500-year-old work of art -- believed to be by Leonardo da Vinci and depicting Jesus Christ -- sold in New York on Wednesday for $450.3 million, smashing the record for the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction, Christie's said.

The exact value of private sales are often not revealed. But a Willem de Kooning painting and a Gauguin were reportedly sold separately for $300 million each in 2015, according to US media reports.

Below is a list of the 10 most expensive art works ever sold at an auction. Unless stated otherwise, all are paintings.

1. Da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" or "Savior of the World," one of fewer than 20 Da Vinci paintings generally accepted as being from the Renaissance master's hand, sells for $450.3 million at Christie's on Wednesday.

2. Pablo Picasso's "The Women of Algiers (Version O)" fetches $179.4 million at Christie's in New York in May 2015.

3. Amedeo Modigliani's "Nu couche" of a reclining naked woman draws $170.4 million at Christie's in New York in November 2015.

4. Francis Bacon's triptych "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" sells for $142.4 million at Christie's in New York in 2013.

5. Edvard Munch's pastel "The Scream," fetches $119.9 million at Sotheby's in New York in 2012.

6. Jean-Michael Basquiat's 1982 "Untitled" sells for $110.5 million at Sotheby's in New York May 2017.

7. Picasso's "Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur" ("Nude, Green Leaves and Bust") lures $106.4 million at Christie's in New York in May 2010.

8. Andy Warhol's Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster), sells for $105.4 million at Sotheby's in New York in November 2013.

9. Alberto Giacometti's sculpture "Walking Man I" sells for $104.3 million at Sotheby's in London in February 2010.

10. Picasso's "Boy with a Pipe" sells for $104.2 million at Sotheby's in New York in May 2004.