Page 39 - Contemporary Art and Old Masters

The Mona Lisa (before restauration) Studio of Leonardo da Vinci, authorised The Mona Lisa (after restoration) Studio of Leonardo da Vinci, authorised and
and supervised by him Oil on panel, 76.3 x 57 cm 1507/8–1513/16 Madrid, supervised by him Oil on panel, 76.3 x 57 cm 1507/8–1513/16 Madrid, Museo
Museo Nacional del Prado Nacional del Prado

possible by new analytical equipment, the Prado is now the same aim; and on the scientific study of the painting in
focusing on the unique and unconventional figure of the Museo Nacional del Prado carried out with the help of
Leonardo as a teacher and on other characteristically recently updated technology.
Renaissance themes: the importance of the idea; the
concept of the original; and the function and types of
copies derived from prototypes created by the great
masters. The works on display, which are based on
paintings and drawings by Leonardo, also facilitate an
understanding of how his theoretical knowledge was
assimilated by his pupils while helping to explain many of
the ideas and observations expressed in his writings.

The exhibition is based on the new orientation and
significance that Leonardo studies have acquired following
the exhibitions devoted to the artist at the Louvre in
2012 and 2019; the scientific analyses undertaken at the
Prado and the Hammer Museum on their copies and the
infrared reflectogram of the Ganay version of the Salvator
Mundi; on the increased understanding - deriving from From left to right: Javier Solana, Head of the Board of Trustees Museo
the results of recent studies - of the nature of the copies Nacional del Prado; Andrea Levy, Regional Government of Madrid; Ana
and works executed in the bottega vinciana during the González Mozo, Senior Technician of Museums in the Museum’s Conservation
Department of the Museo Nacional del Prado and curator of the exhibition;
master’s lifetime and authorised by him, given that not all and Miguel Falomir, Director of the Museo Nacional del Prado, during the
of them reflect the same intentions or were made with press conference. Photo © Museo Nacional del Prado.

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