‘The Lost Leonardo’ | Movie Review | Tribeca ’21

Documentaries have been crushing it this year at Tribeca At Home, and the star of the slate released this festival is ‘The Lost Leonardo’. Immersing you into the art industry’s biggest controversy of the past 100 years, the Salvator Mundi. The Salvator Mundi was recovered and after extensive research regarded by many as a forgotten painting from Leonardo DaVinci. The chances of finding a painting from one of the most famous artists in the world, and in America no less, seemed completely unbelievable to critics. This documentary aims to explain the weight and importance of finding Salvator Mundi, as well as tell you about the art world and how power is bought through art.

‘The Lost Leonardo’ was a fascinating watch from start to finish. It was fascinating to hear from art experts and critics with completely different opinions on the authenticity of Salvator Mundi. Some of the critics featured are very charismatic and funny to watch. Some attempt to debunk or prove what ultimately is impossible to confirm due to just not having any paper trail showing this came from DaVinci himself.

The biggest controversy with the painting comes from how it was restored. Learning about how art is restored and maintained felt like watching an artist paint themselves. It’s a delicate balance of preserving what can be preserved and matching with pinpoint accuracy the original paint strokes that have withered with time. That begs the question if a painting is so damaged and so much was restored, is it still the original painter’s work or more the restorer who is mimicking them?

The most insane thing to learn from ‘The Lost Leonardo’ is when politics meets art. If you saw ‘Tenet’, you are somewhat familiar with these Freeport airplane hangers used as a tax haven to store incredibly valuable artifacts and paintings. Once Salvator Mundi was on sale, seeing the political grabs for it is shocking as much as it is depressing. The people purchasing these pieces of art are storing them away in a dark cold room, away from the world where they deserve to be. Political leverage is used when it comes to art, whether it’s culturally significant or worth an unfathomable amount of money.

Overall, ‘The Lost Leonardo’ is a look into the controversy, the inner workings, and the darker side of the art dealing world. I loved learning about this painting, and director Andreas Koefoed does a great job with pacing and engaging the audience with the mystery of The Salvator Mundi.