Original-Cin

Koefoed’s stylishly made film takes its time, gives everyone their due, and leaves us with some profoundly interesting questions.

A review by Karen Gordon for Original-Cin on 2021-08-24

Screen Daily

The Lost Leonardo is one of those rare documentaries in which almost everyone involved volunteers their loose-lipped testimony, seemingly unconcerned as to the dubious light in which it may place them, and Koefoed turns it in at a snappy 96 minutes with all the bells and whistles of a doc crowd-pleaser.

A review by Fionnuala Halligan for Screen Daily on 2021-08-12

Variety

The Lost Leonardo is the first art-world documentary I’ve seen that captures what art becomes once it goes through the looking glass of greed: not just a commodity, but a way of transferring and manipulating power. It’s enough to make the Mona Lisa stop smiling.

A review by Owen Gleiberman for Variety on 2021-08-12

Film Threat

The Lost Leonardo tells the tale of the most scrutinized painting of all time in fascinating, exhaustive detail.

A review by Bobby LePire for Film Threat on 2021-06-19

Washington Post

The ultimate strength of The Lost Leonardo is its inspection of how society reveres and seeks out capital, the real driving force behind the pushes and pulls acted upon the Salvator Mundi.

A review for Washington Post on 2021-08-17

There’s an enigma here. If we believe anyone in The Lost Leonardo, we believe someone who is only here to cover their tracks. Koefoed knows this and plays up the mystery with compelling results.

A review by Asher Luberto for /reviews/publisher:

As thrilling and fun to watch as any fictional crime narrative, The Lost Leonardo is also a straightforward and unflinching indictment of the way power is brokered in our modern-day society—behind the scenes, out of reach, under the veneer of beauty and esteem.

A review by Artemis Lin for /reviews/publisher:

CineVue

The Lost Leonardo is about obsession, ego, power and greed. For almost all of the film’s characters, Salvator Mundi represents nothing more than opportunity.

A review by Christopher Machell for CineVue on 2021-09-11

Christian Science Monitor

As this film amply demonstrates, in the highest realms of commerce, wielding power is paramount.

A review by Peter Rainer for Christian Science Monitor on 2021-08-12

The New York Times

It’s a dizzying tale. And whether or not you believe “Salvator Mundi” to be a real Leonardo, it’s ultimately a disgusting one.

A review by Glenn Kenny for The New York Times on 2021-08-12

As with all documentaries about art, we are left uneasily wondering if the galleries of the world are full of “wrong attributions” or straight-up fakes.

A review by Peter Bradshaw for /reviews/publisher:

Austin Chronicle

While some of the re-creations of clandestine meetings and shots of faceless men transporting the painting can be a bit cloak-and-dagger cheesy, that’s the only stumble in a film that tells a strange tale populated by a cast of eccentric and dangerous characters.

A review by Josh Kupecki for Austin Chronicle on 2021-09-02

Boston Globe

Really, The Lost Leonardo is a detective story. Like any good detective story, it’s also a morality tale. Or maybe immorality tale better describes these goings on.

A review by Mark Feeney for Boston Globe on 2021-08-26

Obscene wealth, the gauche, unsophisticated rich, “experts” with agendas, “free port” storage and insane amounts of money float by under the unblinking gaze of an Italo-European Jesus, “Salvator Mundi” but still “not even a good painting.”

A review by Roger Moore for /reviews/publisher:

The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Whatever the experts say, any viewer can observe the large gap between the damaged original and the perfect restoration. Perhaps the only definitive thing one can say about the most expensive painting in the world is that, regardless of who painted it in the 16th century, it is a creature of the 21st.

A review by Kate Taylor for The Globe and Mail (Toronto) on 2021-08-26

If this arresting documentary is too agog at its own story to intricately reckon with how 21st century geopolitics and technology have further perverted the relationship between art and commerce — if it stops short of a post-credits scene where Samuel L. Jackson shows up to threaten us with the imminent rise of NFTs — the film nevertheless makes a strong case that some art is truly timeless.

A review by David Ehrlich for /reviews/publisher:

Slant Magazine

The Lost Leonardo deals less with absolutes than fungible notions of perception and power.

A review by Chris Barsanti for Slant Magazine on 2021-06-14