This morning, the Morgan Library & Museum opened its doors to a unique exhibition featuring some of the most famous works of Leonardo da Vinci, one of the geniuses of Italian Renaissance. For the first time in New York, this exclusive exhibition includes a wonderful selection of Leonardo da Vinci’s works from the Biblioteca Reale of Turin.

Among the pieces there is one of his most celebrated manuscripts, the Codex on the Flight of Birds, and his wonderful Head of a Young Woman.

These two masterpieces are surrounded by many others drawings by Leonardo, confirming his excellency in both science and art. In addition, the exhibition includes works from Leonardo’s followers and the Morgan’s Codex Huygens, a manuscript collecting lost notes of this great Renaissance master.

The initiative to have such amazing exhibition in New York is the result of a wonderful collaboration between the American and the Italian Cultural Institutions: the Morgan Library & Museum and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Italian Cultural Heritage and Activities, the Embassy of Italy in Washington D.C., and the Biblioteca Reale in Turin in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of New York and La Fondazione New York.

“Leonardo is one of the famous artists who ever lived. He had been an inspiration to generations of scientists, artists and thinkers, and to have these drawings here at the Morgan it’s exciting and it’s a wonderful selection of drawings that show every aspect of his work,” says William M. Griswold, director of the Morgan Library & Museum.

And, talking about how this collaboration between Italy and US started, he concluded: “this is a work of a team of individuals and institutions of both sides of the Atlantic. We had tremendous help from our Italian colleagues, in the Government, at the Biblioteca Reale, we had wonderful assistance from the Italian Cultural Institute in New York and from La Fondazione in New York.”

At the event there were also present important representatives of Italian Cultural Institutions, who actively participated to the realization of this great initiative.

“Having the possibility to show here in New York this extraordinary Italian genius represents an important moment and the proximity between Italy and United States, especially for Turin that, like Detroit, is an automotive city that went through a crisis but that now, thanks to culture, has find a new youth,” affirms Mario Turetta, Regional Director for the Cultural Heritage and Landscapes of Piedmont.

“Who better than Leonardo can present and introduce Italian culture in the US,” says Riccardo Viale, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, who, since last year, committed to bring this exhibition to the US to celebrate the year of the Italian culture. “Leonardo da Vinci is always contemporary for what it’s the change in knowledge, science and art. Leonardo was a precursor of all this and to have such amazing drawings like the study of the angel for La Vergine delle Rocce or the Codex of Flight is something that makes this event the best for the year of the Italian culture in the US.”

This fantastic exhibition will open a series of events organized by the Morgan Library and entirely dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci’s genius. On November 1, 2013 there will be a Gallery Talk about “Leonardo da Vinci: Treasures from the Biblioteca Reale, Turin,” with an informal tour with curator Per Rumberg.

The next day, there will be an interactive talk in which a museum educator will lead participants in an hour-long discussion on a selection of works by Leonardo. Last but not least, on December 19, 2013, a special lecture, “Leonardo the Artist-Scientist and His Notebooks,” together with Carmen C. Bambach, Curator of the Department of Drawings and Prints of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For further information, visit >>> [2]

This unique opportunity to enjoy such exclusive exhibition will last until February 2, 2014.