Leonardo da Vinci, Male head in profile crowned with laurels1506-1510 circa
The opportunity to get to know and explore the work of the Italian Renaissance master up close, through thirteen works among which the famous sheets with the‘Self-Portraitil Face of a girlthe Male head in profile crowned with laurels is offered by an exhibition expected from April 7 in Turin.
Supported by SMARTART Turin and by OMT – Officine Meccaniche Turin, realized in collaboration with CoopCulture and with the patronage of the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) and the City of Turin, the exhibition The genius and his time. Face to face with Leonardo it is also a journey into an era of great men, from Michelangelo to Christopher Columbus, and of colossal enterprises that changed the course of European civilization, from the fall of Constantinople to the invention of the printed book.
Follower of Leonardo da Vinci, Head of an old man, around 1500-1525
The exhibition is enriched by a rare selection of drawings, manuscripts, incunabula, ancient maps that illustrate the epochal events that accompanied Leonardo’s life from 1452 to 1519. If manuscripts like the Treatise on civil and military architecture by Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1486) or unique incunabula, such as the sheet from Gutenberg’s Bible, the first book with movable type, as well as ancient geographical maps, return an era of great men and businesses, the Leonardo da Vinci vault will make visible the nucleus of the master’s thirteen drawings purchased by King Carlo Alberto in 1839 is available to the public. Made between 1480 and 1515, the sheets represent a precious testimony of Leonardo’s interests, from his youth to full maturity. Some refer to famous masterpieces such as the nudes for the Battle of Anghiari, the horses for the Sforza and Trivulzio monuments, the study for the angel of the Virgin of the Rocks. Other designs, such as the Proportions of the face and eyeconstitute an extraordinary proof of his research on anatomy and on the “motions of the soul”, of which Leonardo was the undisputed master.
Leonardo da Vinci, Self-Portrait, circa 1515-17
Finally, the public will be able to admire the Codex on the flight of birds donated by Teodoro Sabachnikoff to King Umberto I in 1893, and yet another notebook drawn up by Leonardo between 1505 and 1506, where the master reflects on how to make a flying machine, as well as stopping thoughts on matters of mechanics, architecture, hydraulics, drawing of figure.
The exhibition consists of two moments. From 7 to 16 April, the visit experience, which is repeated every year on the occasion of the Easter holidays, will allow you to admire Leonardo’s original drawings kept in Turin, usually not exhibited for conservation reasons. From 7 to 16 April, entry is allowed only with a guided tour. Therefore, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9 to 19, the CoopCulture guides will accompany the public in the discovery of the Royal Library and its great Vincian heritage.
Leonardo da Vinci, Face of a Girl (study for the Angel of the Virgin of the Rocks), circa 1478-1485
The drawings are extremely fragile artifacts. Because of this from 18 April to 9 July, the exhibition will continue with true copies of Leonardo’s drawings, made with sophisticated facsimile reproduction techniques. In this period, admission will be allowed with a free visit at a cost of 13 euros or with a ticket integrated with the Royal Museums itinerary at a cost of 20 euros (reductions and free admissions in force). Reservation is strongly recommended.