Exhibiting Leonardo da Vinci across the UK

Drawing was central to the work of Leonardo da Vinci, both his artistic projects and his scientific researches. The greatest collection of his drawings is held in the Royal Collection, and to mark the 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death in 2019, the Royal Collection Trust has organised the most widely accessible exhibition of Leonardo’s work ever staged. The fourteen shows of his drawings across the UK have already been seen by more than a million people, and culminated in an exhibition of 200 drawings at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace this summer. This talk will discuss the purpose of Leonardo’s drawings, and the experience of curating a nationwide exhibition of these drawings for a mass audience.

Martin Clayton is Head of Prints and Drawings for the Royal Collection Trust. He studied Natural Sciences and the History of Art at Cambridge, and has worked in the Print Room at Windsor Castle since 1990. He has curated many exhibitions on the drawings in the Royal Collection, including the works of Poussin, Canaletto, Raphael, Castiglione, and especially those of Leonardo da Vinci. In 2019 he has curated the exhibition Bill Viola/Michelangelo: Life Death Rebirth at the Royal Academy and fourteen exhibitions of Leonardo’s drawings at venues across the UK. 

Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing is at the Queen's Gallery, London until 13th October 2019. Find out more about the exhibition and book your ticket here.