The Leonardo da Vinci 500th Anniversary Exhibition at the Louvre

by Allegra Tenenbaum

To mark the 500-year anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death, the Louvre curated a monumental exhibition to honour the Italian Renaissance painter. The exhibition, which the museum has been working on for ten years, will open on the 24th of October 2019 and run until the 24th of February 2019. The Louvre has acquired approximately 120 works by the artist from museums across the globe, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Vatican Museum and the Uffizi Gallery, in addition to the pieces the museum already owns. The tickets for the highly anticipated exhibition went on sale starting back in June and required visitors to reserve a specific entrance time.

Rather than keeping the focus of the exhibit on certain famous works that the museum is displaying, the curators intended on creating an experience for viewers to showcase both da Vinci’s progression as an artist and his techniques. The artist is remembered for his mathematical, scientific focus and his desire to achieve perfection in his art. His focus on perfection can be seen in many of his works on view in the exhibition, including the Vitruvian Man (1490) and the unfinished painting Saint Jerome (1480).

Leonardo da Vinci, Saint Jerome in the Wilderness, c. 1480, oil on wood, 103 x 74 cm, Vatican Museum

To emphasise his distinctive and precise technique, the Louvre has included the infrared reflectograms of the works which go beneath the layers of the piece and reveal secret features. Many of the infrared reflectograms are positioned next to the original work of art, while others stand in place of a work that was not included in the exhibit, for example Annunciation (1472) from the Uffizi Gallery.

 The curators decided not to include the da Vinci piece that the Louvre is known for, the Mona Lisa (1503) in fear that the crowds of viewers will overwhelm the rest of the exhibition. Instead, the Louvre created a one of a kind experience using technology to showcase the piece. The experience involves a virtual reality headset that will share the history of the piece and what it may look like beyond the confines of the frame. The VR experience was originally going to be for The Last Supper (1495-1498), since it would be an extremely difficult piece to transport due to its size. The Louvre ultimately decided on the Mona Lisa since the curators had the most information on the piece as it has been a part of the collection.

Still from Mona Lisa Beyond the Glass, Emissive and HTC Vive Arts.

Salvator Mundi (1490-1500), the most expensive painting in the world and another one of da Vinci’s famous portraits, may or may not be included in the exhibition as its current location remains unknown. The piece was sold for $450 million at an auction back in 2017 and it is believed to be in the possession of the Saudi crown prince, but the Louvre still does not know its whereabouts or if it will be lent. Whether the piece is included or not, will not take away from the memorable exhibit.  The massive anniversary exhibition will allow both visitors and the rest of the world to commemorate the life and works of da Vinci.

Salvator Mundi, c. 1490-1500, Photograph from Christie’s, New York, 2017

Bibliography

Nayeri, Farah. "How the Louvre's Leonardo Blockbuster Shows a Master's Progress." The New York Times (New York, NY), October 21, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/arts/design/louvre-leonardo-exhibition.html.

 Rea, Naomi. "The Louvre's Historic Leonardo da Vinci Show Is Finally Here." Artnet News, October 21, 2019.

 Rea, Naomi. "The 'Mona Lisa' Experience." Artnet News, October 22, 2019. https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/louvre-embraced-virtual-reality-leonardo-blockbuster-1686169.