Art: Everyone loves a mystery, and it’s even better when it involves a work of art. This Sunday, scholar Robert Simon will explain how he identified a Leonardo da Vinci painting, Salvator Mundi, painted for France’s King Louis XII and last seen in the collection of that noted aesthete, King Charles I of England, in 1649, the year he went to the chopping block. It did make one or two other appearances at auctions over the intervening 350-plus years, but it wasn’t until 2005, when it was bought by a group of American dealers and authenticated by Simon, that it has become generally accepted as a work by Leonardo. Simon will discuss all this at the annual brunch of the Friends of the Uffizi Gallery, which is being held at 11:30 a.m. Sunday during the Palm Beach Jewelry, Antiques and Art Show at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach. Tickets for the brunch are $100; attendees also get to attend the art show as part of their buy. Visit http://2014friendsofuffizibrunch.eventbrite.com to order a ticket.
Theater: The source material is a children’s book about a boy and the half-thoroughbred he loves, but it was turned into one of the most captivating, imaginative stage productions of the past decade, War Horse, the five-time Tony Award winner. Much of the credit must go to Handspring Puppet Company, which created the life-sized horse puppets, manipulated by two men inside the creature and one outside, but all in sight of the audience. Nevertheless, you will soon be swept away by the illusion and believe that there are real horses on the Kravis Center’s stage. Through Sunday only. Call (561) 832-7469, for tickets and do what you must to catch this epic theatrical event.
Dance: It being the heart of the season, there’s quite a bit going on in the world of dance this weekend, starting tonight with an appearance by Keigwin and Company of New York, the contemporary dance troupe that celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. Keigwin is at the Kravis at 7:30 tonight and 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. tomorrow (call 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org). At the Duncan Theatre, the shape-shifting troupe Pilobolus makes its annual visit for the Duncan’s dance series with a shows tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. Both shows are sold out, as always, but you can check with the box office (868-3309) for returns. Finally, Ballet Palm Beach returns to the Eissey Campus Theatre stage in Palm Beach Gardens with its version of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet for Valentine’s Day weekend (7:30 tonight, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday; call 207-5900 to reach the Eissey or 630-8235 to reach the company).
Film: This week, one of the genuine greats of show business passed away, television pioneer and comedian Sid Caesar. By sheer coincidence, he can be seen in local theaters this week in the documentary When Comedy Went to School, talking about the heyday of the Catskills hotels, where up-and-coming comics learned their trade. In addition to Caesar, director Ron Frank captures memories from such A-list laugh makers as Jerry Lewis, Jackie Mason, Joan Rivers and Jerry Stiller, among many others, and unspools archival footage of the Catskills in its glory era. First seen locally in the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival last month, the film now returns by popular demand in theaters for a commercial run.
Music: Seraphic Fire has had many triumphs over the past dozen years, and last week made its Washington, D.C., debut at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception with its gritty version of the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610. You can welcome them back this weekend with the Firebird Chamber Orchestra for three performances of J.S. Bach’s Magnificat, a first for this group, along with the much-beloved Cantata No. 147, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, which features the great chorale Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. (Here’s director Patrick Dupre Quigley’s promo of the concert). Concerts are set for 7:30 tonight at All Saints Episcopal Church, 8 p.m. Saturday at the First United Methodist Church of Coral Gables and at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at St. Gregory’s Episcopal in Boca Raton. Call 305-285-9060 for tickets or more information, but hurry — tonight’s concert in Fort Lauderdale is sold out and the other two are getting close.