In order to mark the 500th anniversary of the famous artist and inventor’s death, over 200 drawings by Leonardo da Vinci will be displayed in an exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery, at Buckingham Palace, from 24 May.
This time, among the already well-known paintings, a newly-identified sketch of a bearded man is going to be displayed in the exposition after recent studies identified it as one of the only two surviving portraits made during the artist’s life time.
Martin Clayton, head of prints and drawings at the Royal Collection, discovered the image while examining papers stored in Windsor Castle. It is thought to be a study of Leonardo realized by one of his students in 1519, shortly before his death, occurred at the age of 67.
The recognition has been made possible thanks to the similarity between the new painting and the one realized by the artist’s pupil, Francesco Melzi, in the almost same period. In fact, “The elegant straight nose, the line of the beard rising diagonally up the cheek to the ear, a ringlet falling from the moustache at the corner of the mouth, and the long wavy hair” identify the man as none other than one of the most important personalities of the Renaissance.
The expert added that Leonardo, at that time aged 65, probably knew he was soon going to die since a paralysis had struck his right arm preventing him from painting - fortunately not from drawing –and knew at once that his body was failing.
Another characteristic stressed by the sketch is the artist’s “well-kept and luxuriant” beard which was also one of his most distinctive features, since between the 15th and the 16th century relatively few men were bearded.
In addition to the portrait, the exhibition will also include Leonardo’s studies for The Adoration of the Magi painting, which only emerged under ultraviolet light, and of course The Last Supper.
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