NOTES
From an Italian genius to a universal legend. The famous Self-Portrait is on display for the first time in a major exhibition alongside works by artists who, over the centuries, have been inspired by Leonardo’s genius.

A global event at the Reggia di Venaria
The most famous Italian of all time is the star of a unique exhibition in the Juvarrian Stables of the Reggia. An exceptional, unique and unrepeatable event: the opportunity to admire, on the occasion of the major final exhibition for the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, the famous Self-Portrait by Leonardo, the figure who best represents the example of great Italian creative genius.

Production
The exhibition, under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic, is promoted and organised by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities – Directorate-General for Libraries, Cultural Institutes and Copyright – Regional Directorate for Cultural and Landscape Heritage of Piedmont and the Royal Library of Turin, and by the La Venaria Reale Consortium and Comitato Italia 150.

General coordination
Maurizio Fallace, Director General for Libraries, Cultural Institutes and Copyright
Mario Turetta, Regional Director for Cultural and Landscape Heritage of Piedmont
Alberto Vanelli, Director of the La Venaria Reale Cultural Enhancement Consortium and Executive Vice-President of the Comitato Italia 150

Curators
Carlo Pedretti, A. Hammer Centre for Leonardo Studies, Los Angeles
Paola Salvi, Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Milan
Clara Vitulo, Royal Library, Turin
Pietro C. Marani, Ente Raccolta Vinciana, Milan
Renato Barilli, University of Bologna
Arnaldo Colasanti, Roma Tre University.

Scientific Committee
Carmen Bambach, Metropolitan Museum, New York
Sandrina Bandera, Superintendence of Historical, Artistic and Ethno-anthropological Heritage of Milan
Pinin Brambilla Barcillon, Centre for Conservation and Restoration La Venaria Reale
Marzia Faietti, Department of Prints and Drawings, Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Edith Gabrielli, Superintendence of Historical, Artistic and Ethno-anthropological Heritage of Turin
Romano Nanni, Leonardo Library, Vinci
Annalisa Perissa Torrini, Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice.

Scientific supervision and monitoring of the drawings
Cristina Misiti with Flavia Pinzari and Eugenio Veca, Central Institute for the Restoration and Conservation of Archival and Library Heritage in Rome
In collaboration with
Marco Filippi and Marco Perino, Turin Polytechnic
La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre

Preserving Leonardo: The Last Supper

Talk on restoration by Pinin Brambilla Barcillon

Installation The Invisible Gold.
The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci.
12+1 Precious Works Giulio Manfredi
Set design and staging
— Dante Ferretti

Executive set design and production — PlastikArt Studio

Video investigation into the Self-Portrait — Piero Angela

The Exhibition
The exhibition, organised as part of the Esperienza Italia celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, offers an overview of Leonardo da Vinci’s work through some thirty original drawings from important Italian and foreign institutions, and a number of writings collected around the Self-Portrait in the Royal Library of Turin. The exhibition is completed by a series of works from the 15th to the 20th century that illustrate the importance and consolidation of the genius’s physiognomy in ancient and modern art, up to the influence of the myth of Leonardo in contemporary art.

An introductory section offers visitors an insight into the artist through a detailed biography that illustrates the social context, cultural environment and multiple fields of activity of the Master. This is followed by an illustrative and interpretative video of Leonardo’s work, focusing on the theme of the artist’s physiognomy, curated by Piero Angela.
The exhibition concludes with a multimedia space, introduced by a 1:1 scale animated digital reproduction of Leonardo’s Last Supper, designed and created by Haltadefinizione, which allows visitors to analyse in detail the study of physiognomy and expressions in one of the Master’s masterpieces.
Finally, Leonardo’s popularity in the media is represented by a review of films inspired by the genius, curated by Arnaldo Colasanti.

In the section dedicated to drawings, curated by Carlo Pedretti, Paola Salvi and Clara Vitulo, the Codex on the Flight of Birds and the complete collection of thirteen autograph sheets by Leonardo belonging to the Royal Library of Turin are on display to the public, including the famous Self-Portrait. Prestigious national and international loans contextualise and complement the subjects of the Turin collection, with particular attention to the themes of the face, nature, human anatomy and machines.

Through a selection of works by artists from the late 15th to the 19th century, curated by Pietro C. Marani, the figure of Leonardo in the arts and culture is analysed, highlighting how the artist’s own physiognomy became an icon of Renaissance genius.
An in-depth study is dedicated to the construction of Leonardo’s image as a representative of the Italian character, used rhetorically in the pre- and post-unification periods.

According to Renato Barilli, Leonardo’s presence in contemporary art begins with Marcel Duchamp’s famous homage to him, which involved the apparent defacement of the Mona Lisa with the addition of a moustache. Another essential reference is the theme of the Last Supper, revisited by Andy Warhol, but also by many other leading figures in recent art, such as Spoerri, Nitsch and Recalcati.
The theme of the Vitruvian Man is also revisited in the work of Ceroli. Leonardo was also a keen student of physiognomy: hence a line that, through the typologies proposed by Lavater, leads to Goya, Daumier and Grosz. Finally, a precious note by Leonardo invites us to read the presence of arcane landscapes in the stains on the walls, as taken up by some Informal artists such as Wols, Tàpies, Rotella, Twombly, Bendini and Novelli.

The Reggia di Venaria
The exhibition is staged in the spacious 18th-century Scuderia Grande by Filippo Juvarra at the Reggia di Venaria, directed by Oscar winner Dante Ferretti, who uses large Leonardo-style machines as containers for the original works. Large spectacular projections on the walls emphasise the theme of the Self-Portrait.

CATALOGUE
Silvana Editoriale