Growing up, I used to be fascinated by a British reality show called Antiques Roadshow.
The general public would present their antiques to the experts, who would appraise each piece to assess their true worth. Imagine thrifting a treasure bought for cheap and discovering its priceless historical significance. Imagine finding out that a random trinket is actually worth way more than the purchase price. These revelations, to my romantic little heart, were what dreams were made of.
I suspect this is why I was so captivated by The Sleeper – The Lost Caravaggio.
Things are set in motion when an 80 year-old woman from the Pérez de Castro family in Madrid decides to downsize from the family home. She has no space in her smaller house to to hang the stunning painting that was owned by her family for generations. A painting was thought to be by a disciple of the 17th century Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, José de Ribera.
So she puts it up for auction, at a base price of just €1,500.
Somehow, the listing gets spotted by an Italian art dealer. He realises this masterpiece might actually be painted by Caravaggio himself. From that point on, chaos ensues.
The art world is convinced that what may have been uncovered is every antique dealer’s dream: a sleeper. “A painting that’s been sleeping, waiting to be awakened”.
It is fitting that the work of such a provocative baroque painter should cause such a stir.
The documentary alludes to Caravaggio’s chequered past. From the essays of Pulini, an authoritative art historian, it is suspected that the painting made its journey from Italy to Spain via a common practice called “Damnatio Memoriae” or “condemnation from memory”.
It is believed that Caravaggio killed a man in an illegal duel shortly after painting “Ecce Homo” in 1605. Caravaggio fled Rome to escape execution. His name was removed from the painting, before it was sold and brought to Spain.
But I digress. This documentary, by Spanish director Alvaro Longoria, follows the thrilling journey of Caravaggio’s Ecce Homo from discovery to authentication and restoration.
Set to the classical soundtrack of such icons as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (Winter) and Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, the documentary makes for some edge-of-seat watching. The fact that this not only happened, but happened so recently (the authentication only went through officially early this year) makes it so exciting to me.
Experts believe that Ecco Homo is worth over 300 million pounds. It is currently displayed at the Prado Museum in Spain. Hopefully one day I will get to see it. For now, this documentary will suffice; it is a must see for art connoiseurs.
The Sleeper – The Lost Caravaggio is playing at Luna Leederville as part of Espresso Cinema on Sunday, 31st August.