LEONARDO DA VINCI 500TH ANNIVERSARY: EXHIBITIONS, EVENTS AND NEW BOOKS

Leonardo da Vinci 500th anniversary. It was May 2, 1519 when Amboise died one of the most brilliant minds of humanity, after living a long life and leaving very few works.

After writing the post Works by Leonardo: where the most beautiful works are housed now I’ll tell you what awaits us in 2019 to celebrate this myth of art.
There are many initiatives around the world, from exhibitions to documentaries to books.
In this list you find what I think is most important, but of course in the comments you can report other events that may be interesting for other readers 🙂

Leonardo da Vinci 500th anniversary

Leonardo da Vinci 500th anniversary: IN ITALY

• VERROCCHIO, IL MAESTRO DI LEONARDO
  The exhibition lights the spotlight on Verrocchio, who was the master of Leonardo da Vinci. For the first time the masterpieces by Andrea del Verrocchio are exhibited alongside works by artists such as Pietro Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Leonardo da Vinci.

When: 8 March – 14 June
Where: Palazzo Strozzi, Florence

• LEONARDO A FIRENZE
  On show some sheets of the “Codex Atlanticus”, granted by the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, related to the works and studies carried out by Leonardo da Vinci in Florence.

When: 25 March – 24 June
Where: Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

• I SEGRETI DEL CODICE ATLANTICO, LEONARDO ALL’AMBROSIANA
  On show some tables of the “Codex Atlanticus” related to the works and studies carried out by Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, including the city plan and the projects for war machines and engineering studies, the studies carried out in France and various experimental designs.
  The sheets will be presented for a few weeks, allowing to cover the whole year of the Leonardo celebrations.

When: until 12 January 2020
Where: Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan

• IL MERAVIGLIOSO MONDO DELLA NATURA
  The leitmotif of the exhibition is Leonardo’s ability to represent nature and its mysteries in sixteenth-century Lombardy.

When: 5 March – 7 July 2019
Where: Palazzo Reale, Milan

• LA CENA DI LEONARDO PER FRANCESCO I: UN CAPOLAVORO IN SETA E ARGENTO
  On display is the tapestry of the Vatican Museums depicting Leonardo’s Last Supper and probably woven in Flanders on a cartoon probably made by the Lombard artist called Bramantino.

When: 7 October – 17 November 2019
Where: Palazzo Reale, Milan

• LEONARDO DA VINCI. L’UOMO E’ IL MODELLO DEL MONDO
  On show are the 25 Leonardo sheets that are part of the Venetian collection of the Gallerie dell’Accademia, including the famous Vitruvian Man.

When: 19 April – 14 July 2019
Where: Accademia Galleries, Venice

READ ALSO – The Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci: why is it called that?

L’uomo Vitruviano – Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venezia

LEONARDO DA VINCI 500TH ANNIVERSARY: IN EUROPE

• A LIFE IN DRAWING
  Twelve exhibitions throughout the United Kingdom to celebrate Leonardo.
  144 sheets of the Royal Collection are on display until 6 May 2019 in British museums: from Belfast to Bristol, from Liverpool to Manchester. Finally at Buckingham Palace the masterpieces owned by the English Crown.
  More informations – Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing.

When: 24 April – 13 October 2019
Where: UK

• LEONARD DE VINCI
  The world’s most important collection of paintings by Leonardo belongs to the Louvre and to celebrate the artist the museum brings together works from other museums interactions.
  The result is the largest ever exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci, in which to admire works such as the Gioconda next to the St. Jerome of the Vatican Museums and to all the greatest masterpieces of the Tuscan genius. The Salvator Mundi, coming from the Louvre of Abu Dhabi, will also be exhibited.

When: 24 October – 24 February 2019
Where: Louvre, Paris

• 1519, LA MORT DE LEONARD DE VINCI: la construction d’un mythe
  In the Castle where Leonardo lived his last days, an exhibition on the last years of the artist’s life.

When: 2 May – 31 August 2019
Where: Chateau Royal d’Amboise, Amboise

Il Salvator Mundi di Leonardo da Vinci

LEONARDO DA VINCI 500TH ANNIVERSARY: BOOKS

Gioconda – We know him as Renaissance genius: inventor, scientist, artist.
They knew him as Leonardo from Vinci, heretic, butcher, lunatic.

A solitary child, Leonardo da Vinci’s only intimate is Lisa Gherardini, the girl who
spies on him in his workshop. Spurned by his tutor, he is sent by his despairing father
to Florence as an apprentice. Under the guiding hand of Verrocchio, the master
sculptor, he begins to make his name. But success requires sacrifice; Florence
demands a level of conformity impossible for him. Forced to leave, Leonardo places
himself at the service of the charismatic, power-thirsty Duke of Milan. His journey
leads him back to Lisa and the portrait he has waited so long to paint, the culmination
of his life’s work.

From the glittering court of the Medici to the mortuaries of Milan and the battlefields
of the Po valley, Lucille Turner’s powerful novel vividly imagines Leonardo’s lonely
struggle to convince others of his vision of the world. 

Gioconda. A novel of Leonardo da Vinci –> www.amzn.co.uk/Gioconda-Turner

Leonardo da Vinci – Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson “deftly reveals an intimate Leonardo” (San Francisco Chronicle) in a narrative that connects his art to his science.
He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy.

Leonardo da Vinci –> https://amzn.to/2sVosY4

The Da Vinci Legacy – Starting from the sale of the “Salvator Mundi” in November 2017, the authors trace the fortune and the myth of Leonardo through the centuries and its influence on artists of every age, even on 19th century photography, on 20th century Surrealism and on the serigraphed canvas by Andy Warhol.
Apollo Publishers publishes this volume in conjunction with the show “The Search for the Mona Lisa”, a dramatized documentary produced by Pantheon Studios, broadcast in the United States in May 2019.

READ ALSO – The Last Supper tickets: how to book your visit