After Leonardo da Vinci’s (1452-1519) painting Salvator Mundi was rediscovered in 2011, the Dallas Museum of Art turned to their patrons and after much campaigning, managed to raise tens of millions of dollars in hopes of buying the work. Museum officials recently made a formal offer to the painting’s owners but were sadly rebuffed after weeks of negotiation.

Lost for years, Salvator Mundi spent months in the Dallas Museum’s basement before being returned to its owners. If the institution had succeeded in acquiring the oil on wood portrait of Christ, it would have become the second museum in the United States to count a da Vinci as part of its permanent collection. Currently, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. is the only U.S. institution that owns a work by the Italian Renaissance master.

England’s King Charles I once owned Salvator Mundi and the painting was acquired by American art dealer Alex Parish in the mid-2000s. Parish and two other dealers currently share ownership of the work. Valued at $200 million in 2011, the owners turned down an offer of $100 million before the painting headed to the Dallas Museum of Art.

While the rejection was a disappointment for the museum, the institution witnessed an inspiring outpouring of support when they decided to launch their campaign.