"Madonna Litta" Leonardo was presented at an exhibition in Milan

By the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci Vinci, the Poldie Petsoli Museum in Milan opened the exhibition “ Leonardo and Madonna Litta ”. In addition to the painting “Madonna Litta”, about 20 works of the work of Leonardo and his students from state and private collections are presented at the exposition. The official sponsor of the project is VTB Bank.

“Paper” tells how “Madonna Litta” was prepared for transportation, why there are still disputes about the authorship of the canvas, what is the importance for the Hermitage, the show in Milan has and which picture temporarily will take the place of Leonardo's work in the St. Petersburg Museum.

The painting by Leonardo da Vinci "Madonna Litta" is located at an exhibition at the Milan Museum of Pordi-Petssoli until February 10, 2020

In Milan on November 6, the exhibition “Leonardo and Madonna Litta” opened. She talks about the first Milan period of life and work of the artist (1482–1499), his workshop and students. In total, about 20 works of painting and graphics from museum and private collections created by Da Vinci in the last twenty years of the 15th century, when he worked at the court of the Milan Duke of Lyudoviko Smotz, is presented in the Pordi Petszoli Museum. The exhibition in Milan closes the anniversary year of Leonardo da Vinci in Italy.

According to Irina Artemyeva, director of the Hermitage-Little Center, the St. Petersburg Museum gave the work to the Milan exhibition and did not hold his own because Leonardo was historically connected with two countries-he was born in Italy and died in France.

“As our director [Mikhail Piotrovsky] said, this is our policy - to return the picture to his homeland in the anniversary year,” Irina Artemyeva told Paper .

The junior researcher of the Western European art department of the Hermitage Zoya Zoya Kuptsova recalls that last year the monographic exhibition of works by Pierrot della Francesca, whose paintings were not presented in Russian museum meetings, was held in the Hermitage. One of the works by the Hermitage was provided by the Portdi-Potsoli Museum: “This is such an exchange. To make good exhibitions with us, we must also answer something and other museums. ”

In addition, Irina Artemyeva explains that the exhibition of the works of Leonardo da Vinci is extremely difficult to organize. So, in the Louvre until February 24, 2020, the exhibition of Leonardo's works takes place. More than 160 works by Da Vinci are exhibited in the Paris Museum, including Madonna Benoit from the Hermitage collection.

The last large exhibition of works by the master was held in 2011 at the National Gallery in London. Then in the British capital they showed 9 out of 15 surviving artist paintings. “I don’t know how France all this has succeeded now,” says Artemyeva. “But repeating the London show is already impossible.”

At the exhibition in Milan "Madonna Litta" is surrounded by the work of students of Leonardo

In addition to the painting “Madonna Litta”, the Portdi-Potsoli Museum is the works of Marco D'Ojono, the Sforzeska fell, Francesco Napletiano, as well as the work of Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio “Madonna with a flower”. All these authors are Da Vinci's students. It was in Milan that the concept of “Leonardo’s School” began to take shape, and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Marco d'Ojono and Francesco Napletiano were the first students of the master.

To them and other followers of Leonardo include numerous imitations, copies and interpretations of Madonna Litt. Including because of this in the art history there are still disputes about the authorship of the work. Thus, the British art researcher Da Vinci Martin Kemp believes that the picture is based on the sketch of the master, and his student was written by Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio. However, according to Irina Artemyeva, in the course of the study it turned out that the whole picture was made by the hand of one artist and had no acceptance that two author participated in its creation.

“Moreover, this work of such a high artistic level that, of course, not one of Leonardo's students has never risen to such a height,” the art critic explains. - This is quite obvious and it became obvious, including at the exhibition, which opened in Milan. There, this picture is surrounded by the work of students and not one of them is even approaching the skill of the performance of the Madonna Litt.

To send a picture to an exhibition in Italy, it was examined by restorers. A special box was created for the transportation of Madonna Litt

The decision on whether the picture can go to the exhibition to another country is taken by restorers. As Irina Artemyeva explains, after the examination, the conclusion is made: it can move or it should never leave its hall.

If restorers give good, the next stage is the preparation of a box with a climate control system. The Hermitage "Madonna Litta" is contained at special humidity and temperature - the climate stabilization system is configured in the window. It is important that these conditions be met during transportation.

In parallel with the technical part, documents are collected. To take out the picture to the exhibition, it is necessary to obtain permission from the Ministry of Culture and issue insurance.

“The picture“ From the nail to the nail ”is insured: that is, from the moment when it is packed in the museum, to the moment when it returns to its place,” explains Irina Artemyeva.

The Italian Il Giornale Dell'arte writes that in Milan Madonna Litta was delivered by plane in a box equipped with humidity stabilizers, and it was taken from the airport on a special truck.

After delivery to the Milan Museum, the picture was on compulsory acclimatization for several days, after which on November 4, the box with Madona Litt was opened.

“When they opened the box and took out the picture, all the specialists, Pietro Marani (the curator of the exposition - approx. “ Papers ” ), first of all, of course, examined it with a special magnifier, through the magnifying glass they considered everything closely, they compared with Baltraffio,” says Zoya Kuptsova. - Anyway, of course, the level is quite special. This is visible. It is very good that the exhibition is organized in this way, because this difference is immediately visible. ”

The sponsor of the exhibition "Leonardo and" Madonna Litta "in Milan became VTB Bank

Banks regularly support exhibitions. So, one of the sponsors of the exhibition Pierrot della Francesca in the Hermitage was the Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo.

“We are glad that now Russian banks are taking such part,” says Irina Artemyeva. - Because the exhibitions are a very costly enterprise, they are very expensive and, as a rule, do not pay off. And exhibitions of this scale are usually unprofitable.

According to the adviser to the president - the chairman of the Board of VTB Bank Natalia Germanova, the support of the exhibition of the Hermitage picture in Milan is not the first time when the bank is participating in the organization of museum exchange. In 2019, VTB supported the opening of the exposition “Guests from Naples. Artemisia Gentiles and Contemporaries ”in the MiCUM named after A. S. Pushkin. And in 2020, as part of the bank’s cooperation with the Pushkin Museum, a large -scale exhibition of paintings delivered to Moscow from the Kapodimont Museum in Naples will open.

The Hermitage also left Madonna Benoit. On the site of the Leonardo masterpieces in the St. Petersburg Museum, Botticelli is temporarily exposed to Madonna Della Lodicelli

Together with the painting “Madonna Litta”, “Madonna Benois” was also taken from the Hermitage - it is temporarily exhibited in the Louvre. In the Paris Museum, it can be seen until February 24.

Instead of the works of da Vinci, until February 16, 2020, the picture of Sandro Botticelli “ Madonna Della Lodgia ” and the previously not exhibited icon are exhibited. This exhibition is organized as part of the VIII St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum. The picture created in 1467 was provided by the Florence Gallery of Uffizi.

Together with the Botticelli painting in the Leonardo Hall, the Hermitage first shows the Prezantine Old Russian Icon of the second half of the 16th century "The Mother of God with the baby Eleus (Trust)." This work from the collection of the St. Petersburg Museum has never been exhibited before.

Madonna Litta leaves the Hermitage for the sixth time. At home in Milan, she was last exhibited 29 years ago

The work left the Hermitage six times: in 1962, the picture was exhibited in Paris and in Moscow, in 1990-in Madrid and Milan, in 2003 and 2004-in Rome and Venice, in 2011-in London. Now the picture is again shown in Milan.

The work of Leonardo fell into the Hermitage collection in 1865. Then the Milan Duke of Antonio Litta sold four canvases for 100 thousand francs to the St. Petersburg Museum. Among them was the work “Madonna, nursing the baby,” which became known all over the world as “Madonna Litta”.

In the same year, the picture was restored: transferred from a tree to canvas. This was necessary, since the board began to cite. According to Zoe Kuptsova, since then the picture has not been restored.

- There were only preventive and conservative measures. Somewhere with varnish to work, if it is a jelly, somewhere with tinting, if it has become noticeable, but there was no such serious restoration as clearance, for example, of course, ”says an employee of the department of Western European fine art.

Apart from the frescoes, drawings and sketches, in total 15 finished paintings by Leonardo da Vinci have been preserved in the world. Five of them are stored in the Louvre, three - in the Uffizi Gallery, two - in the St. Petersburg Hermitage and one work is presented in the old Munich Pinakotex, Ambrosian Pinakotex in Milan, the National Museum in Krakow, as well as in London and Washington National Gallery.