Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Head of a Young Woman (Study for the Angel in the ‘Virgin of the Rocks’), 1480s, © Biblioteca Reale, Turin.
For the first time in New York, the Morgan Library and Museum presents Leonardo da Vinci's extraordinary Codex on the Flight of Birds, and one of his most celebrated drawings, the Head of a Young Woman, which served as the model for the Virgin of the Rocks.
They are part of an exhibition, Leonardo da Vinci: Treasures from the Biblioteca Reale, Turin, on view at the Morgan until February 2, 2014, which features exceptional drawings by Leonardo and his followers, on loan from the Biblioteca Reale in Turin. The exhibition also features the Morgan’s Codex Huygens, a Renaissance manuscript which contains copies of now-lost original drawings by Leonardo.
“We are delighted to offer New Yorkers the rare opportunity to see this selection of works by Leonardo,” said William M. Griswold, director of the Morgan Library & Museum. “The Morgan is well known for its superb collection of Italian Renaissance drawings, so this exhibition is particularly apt. We would like to thank our colleagues at the Biblioteca Reale, Turin, for their assistance in organizing the show, and we are especially pleased that it coincides with the Year of Italian Culture in the United States.”
The exhibition intends to show Leonardo as the scientist as well as the artist. Draftsman, painter, scientist, inventor, his genius continues to captivate us almost five hundred years after his death.
For more information on the exhibition, visit: http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/exhibition.asp?id=81
Here is a great article from the New York Times reviewing the exhibition and retracing Leonardo’s life and career: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/arts/design/morgan-show-spotlights-works-from-biblioteca-reale.html
