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Going to an art museum to watch a movie about another museum’s exhibition might have seemed odd even a decade ago. But our brains have been so conditioned to appreciate art online that it seems reasonable now to stare at a screen filled with Leonardo da Vinci paintings. Only 16 paintings by da Vinci survive—including the recently authenticated “Christ as Salvator Mundi”—and seven of those appeared in the National Gallery, London’s 2011 exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan.” But that exhibit only ran for three months and sold out instantly, so the film Leonardo Live is the closest thing anyone not lucky enough to be in the UK and tight with ticket scalpers will get to those paintings. The 80-minute documentary features numerous interviews with historians and experts, including British artist Michael Craig-Martin, who remarks how different it is to see da Vinci’s paintings in person rather than in reproduction. Sorry, dude. The rest of us will have to settle for Leonardo Live.
The film shows at 12:45 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art Auditorium, 6th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Free. (202) 737-4215. nga.gov.