Da Vinci's masterpieces in engravings, at the Château d'Amboise

Laure Fagnart, FNRS Senior Research Fellow at ULiège (UR Transitions) has conducted an investigation into 16th and 17th century engravings that translate Leonardo da Vinci's paintings and drawings.

This research has resulted in a richly illustrated summary work (to be published on 27 June by the Parisian publisher Liénart, "Léonard de Vinci et l'art de la gravure", a collective work edited by Laure Fagnart and Stefania Tullio Cataldo, PhD, post-doctoral researcher at ULiège) and an exhibition that will run until 22 September 2024 at the Royal Château of Amboise, in Touraine, organised in close collaboration with the Bibliothèque nationale de France. This exhibition is associated with the reopening to the public, after a long restoration campaign, of the Saint-Hubert chapel, located within the castle walls and in which Leonardo da Vinci's tomb is preserved. 

Interview (in French) with Laure Fagnart to the ULiège magazine Le Quinzième Jour

"Da Vinci's masterpieces in engravings" at the Château d'Amboise

This exhibition explores the paradoxical relationship between the Florentine master and the art of engraving. His writings show that he was tempted to perfect the technique. As Paolo Giovio, his friend and biographer, tells us, he also thought of illustrating a Treatise on Anatomy with engravings. Several prints bearing his name have survived, some of which are on display at Amboise. But unlike Andrea Mantegna or Raphael, Leonardo does not seem to have wanted to control the engraved reproduction of his works, or even to have encouraged it. During his lifetime, only the Last Supper was translated into engravings, and some of his drawings were the subject of engraved interpretations around 1500. It was not until the 17th century that his other painted masterpieces, such as the Saint Anne and the Saint John the Baptist, attracted the attention of engravers.

Telling this complex story is the challenge of this exhibition, which features works from the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Musée du Louvre, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours and the Musée de la vie romantique.

The exhibition is curated by Laure Fagnart (F.R.S.-FNRS/ULiège), Stefania Tullio Cataldo (ULiège), Caroline Vrand (BnF) and Gennaro Toscano (BnF). The event highlights a research project carried out at ULiège and which was the subject of a scientific partnership with BnF.

Contact

Laure Fagnart