Leonardo da Vinci:
Painter of the Court of Milan
National Gallery of Art, London
9 November - 5 February, 2012
Admission Charge
What does one say about an art exhibition that describes itself as the most complete display of Leonardo’s rare surviving paintings ever held. This unprecedented exhibition – the first of its kind anywhere in the world – brings together sensational international loans never before seen in the UK. Featuring the finest paintings and drawings by Leonardo and his followers, the exhibition examines Leonardo’s pursuit for perfection in his representation of the human form. Works on display include ‘La Belle Ferronière’ (Musée du Louvre, Paris), the ‘Madonna Litta’ (Hermitage, Saint Petersburg) and ‘Saint Jerome’ (Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome).The two versions of Leonardo’s ‘Virgin of the Rocks’ – belonging to the National Gallery and the Louvre – will also be shown together for the first time. The final part of the exhibition features a near-contemporary, full-scale copy of Leonardo’s famous ‘Last Supper’, on loan from the Royal Academy. Seen alongside all the surviving preparatory drawings made by Leonardo for the 'Last Supper', visitors will discover how such a large-scale painting was designed and executed. Press Copy
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| Leonardo Da Vinci, (1452-1519) The Virgin of the Rocks about 1491/2 and 1506-8 Oil on poplar, thinned and cradled © The National Gallery, London (NG 1093) |
Words fail me, so I hand over to the first and greatest art historian ever, Giorgio Vasari: "truly wondrous and divine was Leonardo, the son of Piero da Vinci, and he would have made great progress in his early studies of literature if he had not been so unpredictable and unstable. For he set about learning many things and, once began, he abandoned them. Thus, in the few months he applied himself to arithmetic, Leonardo made such progress that he raised continuous doubts and difficulties for the master who taught him, and often confounded him. He turned to music for a while, and soon he decided to learn to play the lyre, like one to whom nature had given a naturally elevated and highly refined spirit, and accompanying himself on this instrument, he sang divinely without any preparation. Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that he worked at so many different things, he never gave up drawing and working in relief, pursuits which appealed to him more than any others. When Ser Piero saw this and considered the level of his son’s intelligence, he one day took one of Leonardo’s drawings and brought them to Andrea del Verrochio, who was a very good friend of his, and urgently begged him to say whether Leonardo would profit from studying design…"
And did he? The rest, as they say, is (art) history. There is not much more to say except that if you are willing to pay the price and brave the crowds, Leonardo da Vinci: Painter of the Court of Milan is open at the National Gallery until 5 February, 2012.
Mary Phelan, 2011