Annunciation (detail) by Leonardo da Vinci
Lent by Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence
Su concessione del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Special Exhibition Galleries / Room T5
March 20, 2007 (Tue) - June 17, 2007 (Sun)
Introduces the latest achievements of research pertaining to Leonardo da Vinci, together with the masterpiece Annunciation. The exhibition invites to explore the genius' mode of thinking and his unitary conception of knowledge, in an unprecedented, rounded overview of the achievements of the genius.
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| Period | Tuesday, March 20 - Sunday, June 17, 2007 | ||||||||
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| Venue | RoomT5, Honkan; Special Exhibition Galleies, Heiseikan; Tokyo National Museum (Ueno Park) | ||||||||
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| Hours | 9:30 - 17:00 Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays until 18:00, Fridays; Everyday April 27 - May 6, 2007 until 20:00 (last entry 30 minutes before closing) |
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| Closed | Mondays (Except for Monday, April 30, 2007) | ||||||||
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| Admissions | Adult 1,500 (1,300/1,200)yen University students 1,200 (1,000/800)yen High school students 900 (700/500)yen Elementary and junior high school students are admitted free.
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| Access | 10 minutes' walk from JR Ueno Station (Park exit) and Uguisudani Station 15 minutes' walk from Keisei Ueno Station, Tokyo Metro Ueno Station, and Tokyo Metro Nezu Station. |
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| Organizers | Executive Committee for "PRIMAVERA ITALIANA 2007"; Tokyo National Museum; The Asahi Shimbun; NHK; NHK Promotions | ||||||||
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| With the High Patronage of | The President of the Italian Republic | ||||||||
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| With the support of | The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan; Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan; Ministero degli Affari Esteri della Repubblica Italiana; Ministero per i Beni e le Attivita Culturali della Repubblica Italiana | ||||||||
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| With the special sponsorship of | Hitachi Group | ||||||||
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| With the cooperation of | Alitalia; East Japan Railway Company; Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co.,Ltd. | ||||||||
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| General Inquiries | 03-5777-8600 (Hello Dial: in Japanese) | ||||||||
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| Exhibition Official Website | http://www.leonardo2007.jp/en/ (in English) The website has closed with the end of the exhibition. |
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| Related lectures |
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| Commemorative lecture | |
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The Mind of Leonardo by Paolo Galluzzi (Director, Institute and Museum of the History of Science, Florence) Auditorium, Heiseikan Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at 13:30 - 15:00 (in Italian and Japanese) |
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Renaissance through Leonardo by Ikegami Hidehiro (Associate Professor, Keisen University, The supervisor of the exhibition in Japan) Auditorium, Heiseikan Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 13:30 - 15:00 (in Japanese) |
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| Related events |
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| Concerts Celebrating the Birthday of Leonardo da Vinci | |
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The Annunciation by Cappella : A Vocal Ensemble Hyokeikan Sunday, April 15, 2007 at 11:00- |
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Renaissance Court Music by Anthonello Hyokeikan Sunday, April 15, 2007 at 14:00- |
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| Tickets for both concerts are sold at: (from March 10, 2007) — Tokyo National Museum Ticket Office (Main Gate)
 Open 9:30 - 16:30 when the museum is open * 9:30 - 17:30 on Holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays March 24 - April 14, 2007 * 9:30 - 19:30 on Fridays March 23 - April 13, 2007 * Closed on Mondays — LAWSON Tickets
Order by phone (operator answered): 0570-000-407 (L-code is 30415) |
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| Major Works on Display |
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Room5, Honkan
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Annunciation, an early epic by Leonardo da Vinci who is known as the universal genius, will be displayed for the first time in Japan.
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*Click the number for an interpretation
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Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci 1472-73 Su concessione del Ministero per i Beni e le Attivit・Culturali Annunciation is the first artwork painted independently by Leonardo da Vinci after being anointed as a fully-fledged master. His extraordinary skill is already apparent in this balanced composition, which also displays the interest in nature to which he was to devote himself to in later years. In Annunciation, there are examples of every element seen in Leonardo's subsequent works. |
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1. Traces of his Training at the Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio Leonardo spent his teenage years at the workshop of the artist Andrea del Verrocchio. In those times there were no art schools in the modern sense; apprentices were assigned the task of replicating their masters' work, acquiring by emulation the techniques and skills of the professionals. The marble table in front of the Virgin Mary imitates the sarcophagus of Piero and Giovanni de Medici in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, which was sculpted by Verrocchio during the same period. Leonardo was slightly over twenty years old at the time, and traces of his apprenticeship at Verrocchio's workshop can be seen here.
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| 2. Symmetric Composition Two techniques that emerged during the Renaissance were symmetry and perspective. The Virgin is placed on the observer's right and the Archangel Gabriel on the left in this landscape screen. The screen can be divided vertically into five rectangles, and both the Virgin and the Archangel fit equally into adjacent triangles. It is a well-ordered symmetric composition, typical of an artist who sought numerical order all his life.
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3. First Example of Aerial Perspective Auxiliary lines drawn from the building and figures converge on one point in the middle of the screen. This "single-point perspective" was one of the more advanced techniques of the Renaissance. Aerial perspective is used in the landscape in the background; distant objects are slightly blurred and pale in colour; this phenomenon, caused by the humidity in the air, was discovered by Leonardo. Although it was much later that the idea of aerial perspective was theorized, he had already used this technique to create the subtle and profound world of the Mona Lisa.
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4. Naturalistic Observation of Plant Life Leonardo displayed his keen observation of nature in depictions of plant life. The Lily held by the Archangel Gabriel, signifying the virtue of the Virgin, has a realistic feeling, surpassing mere symbology. The flowers blooming at the Archangel's feet include daisies, irises, and lilies. Leonardo's realistic interpretation of nature is accurate enough to distinguish the varieties of flowers and grasses painted in the foreground and of the trees in the background.
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5. Outstanding Skill of Three Dimensional Depiction Leonardo's relative immaturity can still be seen in this painting, in the rather taut facial expression and rigidity of figure. However, his strength of three dimensional depiction is fully displayed in the delicate hair of the figures and the drapery of the cloth, which invokes the sense that the human figures truly inhabit it. Although he was barely over twenty years old and at the beginning of his career, Annunciation showed that Leonardo already possessed a consummate understanding of the fundamental skills required by a painter of the Renaissance.
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Special Exhibition Galleries, Heiseikan
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An approach to the mind of the universal genius through latest research
*All exhibited codices are reproductions.
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The codices which contain Leonardo's manuscripts and drawings from his 30's, are essential in unravelling Leonardo's creative world. Currently some eight thousand pages are preserved in various parts of the world; however, it is said that possibly more than twice this number are still missing.
The contents of codices vary from astronomy to architectonics, studies of water, wind, flight, anatomy, technology and so forth. Leonardo used drawings not only to record the results of his observation of nature and the human body but also to visualize invisible things and unshaped ideas.
The exhibition will offer the opportunity to explore Leonardo's mind through models and videos produced from Leonardo's drawings- for example, the plan for Gran Cavallo, a gigantic statue of a horse which was to be more than 7 meters tall, and his etchings of imaginary flying machines.
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