Leibniz - Chronik eines verschollenen Bildes

Leibniz – Chronicle of a Lost Painting

Queen Charlotte has loved the great Enlightenment philosopher Leibniz ever since she was his student and he taught her the joys of thinking. As Queen of Prussia, she yearns for his wise answers to life’s big questions. Leibniz is happy to grant her wish of having his portrait painted so that it can stand in for him in Lietzenburg Castle. Edgar Reitz and co-director Anatol Schuster depict the portrait sittings as a series of passionate debates between the philosopher and artist about the truth of artistic representation. Can a person’s secret self ever be captured on canvas? Is not an imperceptible manipulation inherent in every image? Only the female Dutch painter Aaltje van der Meer is able to challenge the truth-seeker Leibniz with her unwavering love of art, and to open his heart. When Charlotte comes to Hanover to visit her intellectual friend and collect the portrait, fate strikes a terrible blow. Aaltje’s Leibniz portrait, which came to be recognised as a masterpiece of Baroque painting, is still lost to this day.

Source: 75. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)