Celebrating the master
An extraordinary selection of drawings by Leonardo daVinci is currently on show at the National Museum in Cardiff, forming part of a nationwide celebration of his work, writes JennyWhite
TO mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, a collection of twelve of the Renaissance master’s greatest drawings from the Royal Collection are on display at National Museum Cardiff until May 6, forming part of a UK-wide exhibition of his drawings running across a number of venues.
Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing, will give the widest-ever UK audience the opportunity to see Leonardo’s work.
Twelve drawings, selected to reflect the full range of his interests – painting, sculpture, architecture, music, anatomy, engineering, cartography, geology and botany – will be shown in Cardiff, with works also being shown in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Southampton and Sunderland.
The drawings in the Royal Collection have been together as a group since the artist’s death 500 years ago, and provide an unparalleled insight into Leonardo’s investigations and the workings of his mind.
The Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing exhibitions will include examples of all the drawing materials employed by the artist, including pen and ink, red and black chalks, watercolour and metalpoint. They will also present new information about Leonardo’s working practices and creative process, gathered through technical research using a range of techniques including ultraviolet imaging, infrared reflectography and X-ray fluorescence.
Leonardo used ink made from oak galls and iron salts, which is transparent in infrared light, allowing his black chalk underdrawing to be seen for the first time.
Examination of A Deluge, c.151718 (shown in Cardiff) revealed that beneath the pattern-like arrangement of rain and waves in brown ink, Leonardo drew a swirling knot of energy in black chalk at the heart of the composition.