Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibition At The Louvre: Fragility, Virtual Reality, And A Missing Painting – Forbes

The Louvre has unveiled its definitive exhibition this week on polymath Leonardo da Vinci, master of the Italian Renaissance, to mark the quincentennial of his death in 1519.

Its a monumental exhibition, involving an upgrade on an old classic, a painting that has yet to show up and a last-minute appearance by a drawing thought too fragile to travel.

The Mona Lisa in the Louvre has struggled to stand out in the "selfie" generation

The Louvre already houses five paintings by da Vinci but this new retrospective gathers over 160 of his sketches and paintings in one placea world firstafter ten years of research and planning by curators at the Louvre. Artwork has been borrowed from the Vatican, several Italian museums and the British museum in London. As Vogue reported, the Louvre is the worlds most visited museum, da Vinci is one of its most renowned painters and this new retrospective will examine the place of painting and its influence in the work of Da Vinci, who made the "science of painting" as he called it, the instrument of his art.

It has been an ongoing problem for the Louvre as to how to elevate the worlds most famous painting above the jostling crowds and long-waiting times to see the small 30-inch-high painting as 80% of visitors are there especially for her. The New York Times reported on the solution: a new virtual reality tour aboard a Leonardo-designed glider to offer an intimate portrait into the woman, the wife of an Italian silk merchant, and her life in Florence.

An advertising campaign for the new Da Vinci exhibition on the Louvre's neighbour, the Muse des ... [+] Arts Dcoratifs, which is helping to pay for the Muse des Arts restoration

It is thought that Leonardo painted Salvator Mundishowing Jesus in Renaissance dressin 1500, but the painting has been the stuff of art world legend. The painting was originally thought to be by a pupil of Leonardos, and was later upgraded to the painter Boltraffio, when it was promptly sold at auction in 1958 for 45 in London.

Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci ahead of its sale at Christie's New York on November 15, 2017.

The Guardian reported that it was only after it was sold for $1,175 in 2005 at a New Orleans auction house that it was upgraded to a Leonardo. Many people still doubt the authenticity of the painting but the Louvre apparently does not. However, no one in the art world is sure of where it currently is. As one of only 20 known paintings by Leonardo, and the only one in private hands, it has changed owners various times through (possibly) the English royal family and a Russian oligarch. Since its sale for a staggering $450 million in 2017 it is rumoured to be hanging on the super yacht of Saudi Arabias Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, accused of being involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. It is unlikely to make an appearance.

Leonardo's piece "Vitruvian Man" presented in 2015 in Milan.

Leonardos sketch of the proportions of the human body, drawn in Milan around 1490, symbolises the golden ratio found in nature. Leonardo used this mathematical ratio in much of his work, whether it was in designing architectural buildings with stairs resembling snail shells or drawing the Mona Lisa with an ideal distance between her eyes and the bottom of her chin.

An Italian group, Italia Nostra, had appealed to the courts to stop the drawings journey to the Louvre because they said it was too fragile to travel or be displayed under intense lighting. They said that it should only be displayed every six years and for a short period of time, so if it went to Paris, then it would have to be put away for ten years afterwards. However, a last-minute appeal allowed the sketch to travel to the Louvre, as reported in the New York Times, to be shown for two months.

Over 260,000 tickets have already been sold (it is the first time that the Louvre has demanded tickets be bought in advance) and the exhibition runs until February 24, 2020.

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Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibition At The Louvre: Fragility, Virtual Reality, And A Missing Painting - Forbes