Da Vinci: The Genius allows us to see not just the brilliance of Leonardo’s imagination, but also the ways in which the human mind — albeit an exceptionally gifted one — can achieve so much that is extraordinary through the relentless pursuit of knowledge

The exhibition is divided into two sections: Leonardo’s inventions are on the second floor, while several rooms on the first floor focus, less arrestingly, on his paintings. One first-floor room is lined with reproductions of the paintings, most of which are not accompanied by textual descriptions. Of the few that are, is described as a great 21st-century art-world find, its authenticity seemingly confirmed by a single fingerprint — “proof” that has been largely discredited. (Last year’s debate about the authenticity of which ultimately became the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction, is not addressed.) An adjacent room delves into the and a meticulous study of it by French engineer Pascal Cotte, who photographed the painting in 2004 with a multispectral camera and applied a light-projecting technique called the layer amplification method to make new observations about the work. Cotte found that the painting has three discrete portraits below the final version, a claim that is presented in the exhibition as fact rather than hypothesis, despite some art historians’ skepticism. Elsewhere in the exhibition room, gigantic reproductions of the details — a hand here, a torso there — have something of a clinical feel, as though the painting’s subject has undergone unfortunate amputations.

In his recent biography of Leonardo, Walter Isaacson describes the problematic nature of the “genius” designation: “Slapping the ‘genius’ label on Leonardo oddly minimizes him by making it seem as if he were touched by lightning,” when instead, the artist cultivated his genius through study, inquisitiveness, and diligence. allows us to see not just the brilliance of Leonardo’s imagination, but also the ways in which the human mind — albeit an exceptionally gifted one — can achieve so much that is extraordinary through the relentless pursuit of knowledge. — Grace Parazzoli