Leonardo da Vinci. The faces of the genius in Madrid
Staff Writer |
To commemorate the 500 years since the death of the Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, Madrid holds a unique exhibition taking place at two locations: Palacio de las Alhajas and the National Library.
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Madrid starts a series of events on November 29 that also take place in France, Italy and England.
Curated by one of the big da Vinci experts, the Spanish actor, television presenter and writer Christian Gálvez, it is the only exhibition in the world endorsed by the Leonardo DNA Project.
It is an international project involving Gálvez together with a team of geneticists, historians, archaeologists and other experts that wish to reveal da Vinci mystery using his DNA in the year of his 500th anniversary.
The visitors of this exhibition will be able to discover the unknown details about the artist and his work like his dreams, achievements and failures as an artist within an apparently unfinished architecture.
The venue at the National Library opens a new exhibition hall for this event, a space that was until now designated for investigation.
The great entrance hall will exhibit the Codices Madrid I and Madrid II, two manuscripts that show the artist’s involvement in engineering, mechanics and art.
The visitors will also be able to see the reconstructions of the machines shown in the codices and one his biggest projects: the enormous horse designed for Ludovico Sforza.
On the other hand, The Palacio de las Alhajas will show the prints that were part of different books published throughout the history dealing with the life and work of Leonardo.
Tavola Lucana, shown for the first time in Spain, is one of the main attractions of this exhibition. It is a portrait discovered in 2009 by the historian Nicola Barbatelli and the experts claim that is it the only one that meets all the requirements (historical, literary, artistic and scientific) to be considered the true self-portrait of the Florentine artist. ■
The final few days of September will feature mostly tranquil weather conditions throughout the Nation outside of a few areas expecting scattered showers and thunderstorms.