Florence, an exhibition on the construction of the myth of Leonardo between the 19th and 20th centuries at the National Central Library

As part of the celebrations for the five hundredth anniversary of Leonardo’s death, the National Central Library of Florence has organized an exhibition, in Sala Dante and the adjacent corridor, focusing on the birth and development of the Leonardo myth in Italy and Europe. The exhibition, scheduled from Dec. 5, 2019 to March 14, 2020, is titled Leonardo from paper to paper: the construction of myth between the 19th and 20th centuries.

The starting point is 1796, with the transfer, commissioned by Napoleon, of the vincian codices of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana to France, in an exponential and unstoppable crescendo throughout the nineteenth century until 1939, with the grand Leonardo da Vinci and Italian Inventions Exhibition in Milan, which represented the culmination of the transfiguration of the Tuscan painter into a perfect symbol of Italic genius, a “divine” synthesis of art and science.

About one hundred and ten documents of various types are exhibited in eight sections, according to a chronological and thematic progression, exploring the myth in its most complex valences and spheres: from the narrow academic circle to literary and poetic reflection, from the historical and political implications in the Risorgimento to scholastic and popular popularization, from Freudian psychoanalytic considerations to the desecration carried out by the artistic avant-gardes of the early 20th century, up to the season of the great Italian Exhibitions in the Fascist era that have Leonardo, consecrated as a precursor and universal genius, as their centerpiece.

On display are printed books, manuscripts, correspondence, engravings, periodicals along with photographs, postage stamps, picture postcards, small calendars and figurines, coming not only from the library’s historical collections but also from important loans from other institutions and private collections.

For all information you can visit the official website of the National Central Library of Florence.

Florence, an exhibition on the construction of the myth of Leonardo between the 19th and 20th centuries at the National Central Library

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