This once in a lifetime exhibition brings together many sensational paintings and drawings. Whilst numerous exhibitions have looked at Leonardo da Vinci as an inventor, scientist or draftsman, this is the first exhibition in the world to be solely dedicated to his aims and ambitions as a painter. ‘Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan’ will display more than sixty figurative works by the great artist, as well as pictures by some of his closest collaborators. The show concentrates on Leonardo’s career as a court painter in Milan, working for the city’s ruler Lodovico Maria Sforza - also known as ‘il Moro’ (or ‘the Moor’ for the darkness of his complexion) - in the 1480s and 1490s. It examines his extraordinary observation, imagination and technique. Almost every surviving picture that he painted in the northern Italian city during this period will be exhibited. Shown alongside them will be a unique collection of his preparatory drawings (anatomical, proportional, caricature) that demonstrate how Leonardo used them to ‘design’ his masterpieces. More than fifty drawings relating to the paintings will be exhibited for the very first time. Leonardo’s Portraits of WomenOne of the central works of the exhibition is the exquisite ‘Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani (The Lady with an Ermine)’ - arguably Leonardo’s masterpiece of these years. This beautiful work offers an insight into the fascinating, but complicated, world of il Moro. Cecilia, renowned for her beauty, wit, scholarship and poetry, was just sixteen when she became Lodovico’s mistress in 1489. Da Vinci was commissioned to paint her portrait that same year whilst both were living in the Duke’s imposing Castello Sforzesco. He portrayed Cecilia against a monochromatic background, holding a white ermine - an enigmatic feature with multiple meanings. It may be a visual pun on her surname, since the Greek for ermine or stoat is galay. It could also be symbolic of her lover, Lodovico Sforza, since he had been awarded the Order of the Ermine by the King of Naples and had acquired the sobriquet ‘l'Ermellino’ as a result. The ermine was also written about by Leonardo as a symbol of her purity. The Virgin of the RocksThe adjacency of the two versions of the ‘Virgin of the Rocks’ – for the first time, quite literally ever, the two works are displayed side by side – is for many the highlight of the exhibition. How the two variants came about is complicated. ‘Virgin of the Rocks’ was Leonardo’s first major commission in Milan. In 1493 he was engaged to paint the central picture, plus panels of musician angels, for a carved wooden altarpiece destined to be erected in the chapel of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, part of the now sadly demolished San Francesco Grande church. After completing the first version, Leonardo became embroiled in a financial dispute with the Confraternity and the painting was sold elsewhere – most probably to Leonardo’s original Milanese patron, il Moro, who then used it as a lavish diplomatic gift. This first work is almost certainly the picture that now hangs in the Louvre, Paris. However Leonardo went on to paint another version, and today this second ‘Virgin of the Rocks’ is a highlight of the permanent collection of the National Gallery in London, where it has hung since 1880. The two works have never been in the same room together, or studied side by side, until now in London.Painting the DivineOne of the undoubted stars of ‘Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan,’ will be the ‘Salvator Mundi’ – the recently rediscovered painting by Leonardo, which has been missing – thought destroyed - for centuries. The National Gallery’s exhibition will be the first time it has been exhibited in public. The picture painted on a walnut panel depicts Christ as the Saviour of the World (in Latin, the Salvator Mundi). The last time a Leonardo painting was brought to light was in 1909, when the ‘Benois Madonna,’, now in the Hermitage (St. Petersburg) was found in Russia. Leonardo’s painting of the ‘Salvator Mundi’ is long known to have existed. More than twenty copies by students and followers of the artist were testament to its existence, as is a meticulous 1650 etching made after the original painting by the Bohemian artist Wenceslaus Hollar. In addition, two preparatory drawings by Leonardo housed in the Royal Library at Windsor depict the drapery and raised arm of Christ, as seen in the painting. Although versions of the picture have occasionally been put forward as Leonardo’s original, none gained a consensus among scholars. Until now.Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of MilanThe National Gallery, London – Sainsbury Wing9 November 2011 – 5 February 2012www.nationalgallery.gov.uk
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