Diamond Skull

Compared with the epic works that have made his name - the shark in formaldehyde, the bisected cow –Damien Hirst’s work in progress is a small, delicate object: a life-size human skull. Not just any skull, mind, but one cast in platinum and encased entirely in diamonds - 8,601 in all, totaling 1,106.18 carats. It is the most expensive work of art ever created, costing approx. $20 million.

Hirst said: ‘We have been buying diamonds slowly and have worked out that it will take about eight and half thousand to completely cover the surface of the skull.’Even the eye sockets and the holes for the nose have been filled with hundreds of jewels. A 52-carat pear-shaped stone is set into the forehead, surrounded by 14 diamonds

The sculpture, titled “For the Love of God,” will likely sell for as much as $100 million, making it the priciest contemporary artwork ever made. Hirst will find himself on a price level with Pablo Picasso and Gustav Klimt. The White Cubz gallery is selling several limited edition silkscreen prints of the work.

Hirst, who financed the piece himself, watched for months as the price of international diamonds rose while the Bond Street gem dealer Bentley & Skinner tried to corner the market for the artist’s benefit. Given the ongoing controversy over blood diamonds from Africa, “For the Love of God” now has the potential to be about death in a more literal way.