Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist at The Queen's Gallery photo: grongar
A new exhibition dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical studies opens in London in May. Critics have tipped the show, at the Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace, as a must-see.
So soon after a hugely popular National Gallery exhibition of Leonardo’s paintings, art-lovers may be forgiven for a certain da Vinci fatigue. But the Queen’s Gallery focuses on Leonardo’s anatomical explorations, the result of years of closely observed dissections. As Jonathan Jones pointed out in The Guardian, some of the drawings are so accurate that they still prove useful to twenty-first century medical science.
Aesthetic value. “I cannot pretend for one second that I fathomed even a fraction of Leonardo’s scientific achievements,” admitted Alastair Sooke in The Telegraph. But a knowledge of human anatomy isn’t necessary to enjoy this exhibition: “From an aesthetic point of view, Leonardo’s draughtsmanship is breathtaking… Examining these manuscripts also affords an irresistible sense of proximity to a great mind,” Sooke wrote.
Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist runs from 4 May to 7 October 2012 at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. For further information, check out the gallery website.
Beauty in anatomy. “Every vein he draws is a miracle of art,” wrote Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. “Even as he patiently reveals the nature of heart valves, he draws with such tender beauty that you gasp at the complex artistic achievement.”
Timeless. Leonardo’s anatomical studies are “one of the most amazing bodies of work ever produced”, said Rachel Campbell-Johnson in The Times (£) – not least for the “timeless sense of wonder” they evoke. Such enthusiasm for the inner workings of the human body is infectious: “You feel that you, too, are an amazing body of work.”
