The Leonardo museums open to the public

The museums, curated by one of the foremost Leonardo experts, Professor Alessandro Vezzosi, will promote knowledge of the figure of the Genius of Vinci through a special exhibition entitled “Leonardo Lives”, running from 2 May to 31 December 2019. The “Museo Ideale Leonardo Da Vinci”, which reopens to the public after 9 years of closure, will present a major new acquisition of works including the “Nude Gioconda”, a painting depicting the Monna Lisa in the same posture as the Louvre masterpiece, but nude from the waist up and exposed at the chest. Hitherto of uncertain attribution, recent studies suggest it could have been painted by the Genius of Vinci himself or by workshop artists connected to him.

At the “Museo Ideale Leonardo Da Vinci” will also be displayed an extraordinarily important artefact in its world premiere: a lock of hair that appears to belong to the Genius of Vinci. The lock, named ‘Leonardo da Vinci’s Hair’, was discovered in France, accompanied by a document that appears to attest to its authenticity. From this lock a scientific study will be initiated to reconstruct Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA, which will then be compared with the presumed living descendants of the genius.

The “Leonardo Museum and the Renaissance of Wine” will instead explore an unprecedented aspect of Leonardo: his authentic relationship with the world of agriculture, the territory, foodstuffs and wine, from historical tradition to the new Renaissance. The Genius owes this connection to his family and his childhood in Vinci and he devoted himself to it in technological studies, in observations on vine cultivation, in fables and prophecies, even coming to design innovative tools and mills for the era.

The Leonardo Museums will thus be places where, in addition to the study and exploration of the Genius by scholars, it will be possible to satisfy curiosity about Leonardo da Vinci’s world more closely and, why not, raise a toast with our wines in his honour.

Discover more about the Leonardo Museums – Click here