Florence, selected sheets from Leonardo da Vinci's Atlantic Codex on display at Palazzo Vecchio

From March 29 to June 24, 2019, Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio’s Sala dei Gigli hosts the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci and Florence. Selected Sheets from the Atlantic Codex, an exhibition celebrating the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci, 1452 - Amboise, 1519). Florence does so by recalling Leonardo’s lifelong connection with the city, hosting an exhibition that presents twelve papers from the Atlantic Codex, preserved at the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. Curated by Cristina Acidini, the exhibition aims to find in the sheets of the Codex the many references to Leonardo’s place of origin, which he never really left and in any case never forgot.

The exhibition intends to show that Florence was always present in Leonardo’s mind, wherever he was, both in the network of protections, acquaintances and friendships that accompanied him throughout his life, and in the correspondence he always continued to keep, as well as in the baggage of experiences and memories he carried with him to the end. The twelve selected sheets, which are of course not the only ones in which reminders of Florence are found, function as Ariadne’s threads in reverse, directing the visitor into the deep meanders of the Labyrinth, rather than pointing to its exit. And as a Labyrinth, one must consider the many aspects of the multifaceted and very often contradictory relationship between Leonardo and the city, in whose domain he was born and in which he spent the fundamental years of his education.

There are more than just folios on display: in fact, one painting, from the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, has been placed at the close of the exhibition. It is a painting attributed to one of Leonardo’s main pupils, Gian Giacomo Caprotti known as the Salaì (Oreno, 1480 - 1524), depicting the Bust of the Redeemer. In the setting, it introduces a new subject, as it is not a work recognized as being by Leonardo, nor is it traceable to the master’s relationship with his city. The painting, however, is connected, by still mysterious but unmistakable ways, to Salaì, whose signature, or nickname, SALAI, who was among Leonardo’s closest assistants, bears.

The exhibition can be visited during Palazzo Vecchio’s opening hours: March 29 to 31 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., April 1 to June 24 daily from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., except Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The ticket office closes one hour earlier. It can be visited with a Palazzo Vecchio ticket. For info see the Palazzo Vecchio website.

Pictured: the Hall of the Lilies

Florence, selected sheets from Leonardo da Vinci's Atlantic Codex on display at Palazzo Vecchio

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