Visits & events
Leonardo at the National Gallery
I’m not convinced that genius can be properly defined as an infinite capacity for taking pains, but the National Gallery exhibition (Leonardo da Vinci, painter at the court of Milan) would be a good illustration that the genius of Leonardo perhaps of all painters would qualify under that definition. Perfection of outline in his portraits of women (La belle Ferroniere, Portrait of Lady with an ermine), anatomical precision, mastery of perspective and foreshortening, exquisite use of colour, a miraculous delicacy of touch – all of these qualities are evident in his paintings, and in this exhibition the often minute drawings and sketches which were the workings for these are well placed so that we start to understand the processes which led to the masterpieces. (Living in Norwich has emboldened me into talking to strangers, and I was very glad to share a magnifying glass with one.) Often the drawings are from life (babies, women’s heads), some are preliminary structural sketches for the major works, others studies in proportion (a head, a foot) or anatomy. Or a random sketch for a fortification appears, to remind us why Leonardo painted relatively little, and sometimes left work unfinished.
It’s when we look at what he does with these sketches, how he uses them, that taking even infinite pains seems to give an inadequate idea of Leonardo’s genius. For instance in the subtle changes in Study for the Head of a Woman which etherealize it into the head of the Madonna Litta, or the sketch of an angry old man which becomes Saint Peter in The Last Supper. The major works, we realize, are more than the sum of their parts. Even in the portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, with all the well documented symbolism of the beautifully painted ermine, isn’t there a hint of similarity between the animal and the girl? And in the two Virgin of the Rocks paintings, can we calculate the effect on the picture as a whole of that mysterious rocky landscape receding into mist behind the infant Jesus?
This was a superb exhibition, and the atmosphere of intense concentration made one not mind the crowd as much as usual in popular shows like this. It also served as a reminder of how lucky we were to have tickets at all; so a sincere and hearty thanks to the organizers.
David Huband, guest
