PARTNERSHIP Italy - UK

PARTNERSHIP | Winter 2019 10 Leonardo at the National Gallery Celebrating the genius between art and technology T he National Gallery tells the story of European art through a unique collection of masterpieces and a rich programme of temporary exhibitions. During the next year, the Gallery will present an unprecedented run of shows devoted to Italian artists, including Titian: Love, Desire, Death (16 March – 14 June 2020) and Artemisia (4 April – 26 July 2020), culminating with The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Raphael (3 October 2020 – 24 January 2021). But first, our Italian Season begins in November 2019 with the polymath Leonardo Da Vinci. 500 years after his death, Leonardo remains the world’s most famous artist. Leonardo: Experience a Masterpiece (9 November 2019 – 12 January 2020) is an immersive exploration of his genius as a painter, focusing on the Virgin of the Rocks. In collaboration with 59 Productions, the National Gallery is creating an exhibition that investigates this painting and the inventive mind that created it. Interview with Caroline Campbell, Director of Collections and Research, and Lawrence Chiles, Head of Digital, on how curatorial and scientific research combined with digital innovation sit at the heart of this exhibition. ICC: It is understood that Leonardo saw no separation between art, science, new technology and faith in his approach to creating the Virgin of the Rocks. From a curatorial perspective, how do you begin to communicate these ideas into one Experience? CC: Leonardo was a master of creating immersive environments. We developed this experience on the basis that the Virgin of the Rocks – a commission that occupied Leonardo for more than two decades – deserved an examination which was just as all-encompassing, bold and innovative. Our show is divided into four spaces. It starts with an exploration of Leonardo’s mind, looking at what concerned and interested him in the years he was making the Virgin of the Rocks. The second room will illuminate Leonardo’s creative process, revealing the results of the Gallery’s technical examinations of the painting. In the third space, visitors will explore his discoveries and observations on light and shadow. The exhibition ends in “the imagined chapel”, where it will be possible to contemplate the Virgin of the Rocks original setting as part of an elaborate sculpted and gilded altarpiece, and – finally – to come face to face with the painting itself. ICC: What is it about Leonardo that makes him still relevant and appealing to audiences today, 500 years after his time? CC: Leonardo lived 500 years ago, but his work and personality resonate strongly with audiences all over the world. He was totally his own person - brilliant, infinitely curious, competitive, easily distracted and charming. We have been inspired to create an exhibition that aspires to reflect how he might be working if he lived today, applying the same cutting-edge, polymathic approach that defined his practice. ICC: Leonardo was known to be the ultimate perfectionist, as shown by the fact that it took him over 25 years to develop the Virgin of the Rocks (1483–1508). How has modern technology and National Gallery research enabled us to understand more about Leonardo’s thinking and working process in creating this altarpiece? CC: The study of just one artist and artwork can open the doors to so many inspiring and thought-provoking observations. Members of our Scientific,