Leonardo and Oxford: Discovering the World of Leonardo

Tuesday, 19 September 2006 10:00

OXFORD, UK - This summer the work of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) will act as a gateway for the public into the University of Oxford’s rich collections.  On exhibition until 5 November, 2006.

A discovery itinerary will be mapped throughout the City embracing the Ashmolean Museum, the Botanic Gardens, Christ Church Picture Gallery, the Museum of the History of Science and Magdalen College Chapel.  Focussing on his artistic and scientific interests, the exhibitions will analyze the artistic and intellectual world inhabited by Leonardo, his friends and followers, while questioning today’s image of him as a genius and celebrity.

Artist, mathematician, botanist, scientist and military engineer, Leonardo da Vinci remains an enduringly fascinating figure as a result of the amazing range of his intellect and imagination.  Famous in his own lifetime, he is still celebrated, centuries later, as a universal genius.  He is also seen as the quintessential Renaissance man, who lived at a time when knowledge of the world was not yet broken down into specialist areas.

The idea of using Leonardo as a lens with which to explore the collections is innovative and interdisciplinary, leading to new insights about the artist and providing a multi-layered experience for the visitor.  The Oxford Discovery Itinerary is part of the international series of exhibitions and events Universal Leonardo.

At the Ashmolean, Britain’s oldest museum, Imagining Leonardo will have at its core a group of Leonardo drawings and will focus on how his achievement was visualized and interpreted by artists, collectors and scholars at different times.  Other parts of the collection, such as the famous painting The Forest Fire by Piero di Cosimo, will be highlighted to show how Leonardo’s ideas on art inspired other artists.

Leonardo’s innovative and highly expressive Last Supper of c.1495-98 painted high on the wall of the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, made a huge impact on other artists.  The Last Supper, attributed to a close Milanese follower of Leonardo, Giampietrino (active c.1495-1549), is a remarkable and intriguing early version on canvas of Leonardo’s composition.  It is on loan from the Royal Academy to Magdalen College, where it appropriately hangs in the ante-chapel in a late 15th-century setting.

This exhibition has been organized in association with Universal Leonardo, a Europe-wide project to deepen our understanding of Leonardo da Vinci. Universal Leonardo is supported by the Council of Europe and led by Professor Marina Wallace, University of the Arts, London.  www.universalleonardo.org

Visit The Ashmolean Museum at: www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/