Today, almost everyone knows The Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci. It was not always this way. For a long time, it was the Last Supper of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan which was the most renowned and appreciated work of the master.
Why ? The exhibition presented at the royal castle of Amboise this season offers to provide an explanation to this question.
Before the 19th century, the Florentine’s works were rarely translated into engraving. Curiously, Leonardo showed little interest in this technique which makes possible the reproduction of images and, beyond that, their dissemination on a large scale. We are surprised: other artists of the time, such as Andréa Mantegna or the younger Michelangelo and Raphael, used engraving to promote their artistic creations. Unraveling the mystery of this astonishing observation is one of the objectives of the exhibition which will present visitors with around thirty works, in particular engravings from the rich collections of the National Library of France, the Louvre Museum, the Istituto nazionale per la grafica of Rome and the Museum of Fine Arts of Tours.
Rates: Included in the castle entrance ticket, no booking needed.
