During a flight over winter break, I watched The Lost Leonardo, a film about the sale of the Salvator Mundi painting which is said to be made by Leonardo da Vinci. While watching and responding to “Ways of Seeing” a few weeks ago, I was reminded of the storyline surrounding the Salvator Mundi’s sale. In today’s day and age, there are so many ways to duplicate art in such an accurate manner that copies look exactly like the original. Do you think it matters if the version sold at Christie’s for $450.3 million to a Saudi prince is authentic? After watching The Lost Leonardo, I cannot help but to question how we can ever verify with 100% certainty that the version sold at auction was really painted by da Vinci. No matter how advanced the technology used in the verification process was, we cannot be fully certain.
Additionally, this film reminded me of conversations we have had in class following artist presentation about the politics of artwork. The Salvator Mundi is the perfect example of the politicization of art. The Saudis refused to lend the painting to the Louvre for its 2019 Leonardo da Vinci exhibition because the museum’s curators refused to show it next to the Mona Lisa. According to Forbes, Emmanuel Macron and the Louvre’s rejection of Mohammed bin Salman’s demand that they display the Salvator Mundi next to the Mona Lisa and present it as a 100% authentic Leonardo has caused a small diplomatic fallout between France and Saudi Arabia.
