Louvre left hanging on Leonardo exhibition
The original Renaissance Man is troubling the European dream.
Leonardo da Vinci’s legacy has become a point of contention as Italy’s Eurosceptic coalition flexes its muscles over French attempts to dominate the 500th anniversary of his death.
Italy’s government upped the ante this week by backpedalling on an offer – and casting doubt on the traditional comradeship between Europe’s cultural institutes – to lend its stock of Leonardos to the Louvre for its blockbuster exhibition on the artist this October.
British cultural leaders, already anxious about the implications of Brexit on the intercontinental lending of artworks and artefacts, have criticised the stance. Sir Charles Saumarez Smith, former chief executive of the Royal Academy of Arts, said that Italy’s actions were ‘‘slightly regrettable because it is using nationalist politics to cause difficulties’’ over an anniversary that ‘‘is a great thing for Europe as a whole’’.
He told the BBC that with ‘‘Brexit looming’’ in March he was worried about continuing goodwill between museums across the Continent. The National Gallery in London is expected to lend its version of Leonardo’s The Virgin of the Rocks to the Louvre and the Paris gallery has already announced that among other ‘‘outstanding loans’’ would be works from the Royal Collection, which holds drawings by the artist.
The National Gallery said it was ‘‘crucial’’ that museums and galleries continued to share collections and expertise with others in Europe. In recent years, and in a sign of the importance placed on international collaboration, British institutions have been at the forefront of attempts to use culture to defuse tensions between countries.
The British Museum lent the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran in 2010 and part of the Parthenon Marbles to the Hermitage Museum in Russia in 2014, at times when Britain was barely on speaking terms with the respective governments.
The dispute between France and Italy has arguably escalated because of the artist at the heart of it. Lucia Borgonzoni, the League’s culture minister in Italy, has said that her country would not countenance being on the margins of the quincentenary. There is already uncertainty at the Louvre over whether it will be able to display Salvator Mundi, the world’s most expensive painting, at the show. The rediscovered artwork was publicly unveiled at the National Gallery’s own blockbuster exhibition in 2011 but mystery surrounds its location.
Experts dispute the provenance, Leonardo attribution and restoration of the painting, which was sold at auction in 2017. It was supposed to have been unveiled at the Louvre Abu Dhabi last September. Its absence, coupled with the refusal of Italian institutions such as the Uffizi Galleries to lend paintings, would significantly tarnish the Louvre’s exhibition.
About 20 Leonardo paintings are known to exist, with considerable debate as to how much of his hand was present in these. Sir Charles said that this made it ‘‘unbelievably difficult’’ to mount an exhibition. He said Italian institutions would struggle to do so given that the Louvre has by far the single biggest holdings of his paintings.
A source in Italy’s arts ministry said yesterday: ‘‘There are museums here that may want to do their own exhibitions.’’