The Lost Leonardo is an internationally co-produced documentary film directed by Andreas Koefoed, released in 2021. It follows the discovery and successive sales of the painting the Salvator Mundi, allegedly a work by Leonardo da Vinci, an artist for whom there are only a few attributed works in existence. The film chronicles the dramatic increases in the painting's value from its original purchase in 2005 for $1,175 to its auction in 2017 for $450 million, when it became the most expensive artwork ever sold. The use of high-end artwork for hiding wealth, as well as the conflicts created by large commissions and other economic incentives, are explored in the film. It includes interviews with leading art experts and art critics on issues regarding the provenance and authenticity of the work.
Theatrical release poster
After cleaning (2006–07)
After restoration (2017)
Image: Emeritus Professor Martin Kemp
Salvator Mundi (Leonardo)
Salvator Mundi is a painting attributed in whole or in part to the Italian High Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to c. 1499–1510. Long thought to be a copy of a lost original veiled with overpainting, it was rediscovered, restored, and included in an exhibition of Leonardo's work at the National Gallery, London, in 2011–2012. Christie's, who sold the work in 2017, stated that most leading scholars consider it an original work by Leonardo, but this attribution has been disputed by other leading specialists, some of whom propose that he only contributed certain elements; and others who believe that the extensive restoration prevents a definitive attribution.
Salvator Mundi (Leonardo)
c. 1908–1910 photograph showing overpainting
Simone Martini's Salvator Mundi Surrounded by Angels (c. 1341)
Wenceslaus Hollar, Salvator Mundi (1650), engraving, inscribed in Latin: "Leonardo da Vinci painted it, ... from the original", Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library