Jan. 20, 2015

Da Vinci’s Codex

The Codex Leicester, c.1508-10, ink on paper, each double sheet 11 ¾” x 17 5/8”

Works by Leonardo da Vinci on display in Arizona for the first time

through new Phoenix Art Museum exhibition

Shown alongside "Leonardo’s Codex Leicester" will be 31 works by acclaimed artists

who demonstrate his practices of observation.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester and the Power of Observation will open at Phoenix Art Museum on Jan. 24, 2015. The exhibition is focused around the Codex Leicester, the only manuscript by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) in a private American collection and one of the world’s most important intellectual manuscripts. The Codex consists of 18 double-page and double-sided sheets (72 pages total) in Leonardo’s distinctive mirror script "alla mancina." The writing is interspersed with approximately 360 illustrative drawings and diagrams. Codex was purchased in 1717 by Thomas Coke, later Lord Leicester, for whom it is named today. The primary theme is water, with a secondary theme of lunar observation. Additional observations include marine fossils, subtle movement of grasses and the dynamics of gunshots.

Focused primarily on Leonardo’s study of water and the moon, the codex pages display his creative process, the way he reasoned through a concept and how he influenced artists throughout centuries. Along with the Codex Leicester will be 31 additional artworks by artists ranging from Claude Monet and Gustave Courbet, to Ansel Adams and Bill Viola. Included will be paintings, photographs and a video installation, depicting a broad range of subject matter including water, waves, shells, peppers, milk, geysers, leaves, sand, oceans and the moon. The exhibition as a whole will help visitors better understand how Leonardo da Vinci’s observational skills have continued to be practiced by modern-day artists. Leonardo’s in depth study, notes and illustrations on the movement of water are especially relevant to the people of Arizona.

Claude Monet (1840-1926, French)

Flowering Arches, Giverney, 1913, oil on canvas, 31 ¾” x 36 ¼”

Collection Phoenix Art Museum

Brilliant in the arts, sciences and engineering, Leonardo da Vinci was driven by a deep sense of curiosity about the world around him, recording his observations on scores of paper sheets that were later gathered and bound as manuscripts, or codices. Leonardo’s active mind and working method are defined in this exhibition by three primary characteristics: curiosity, direct observation and thinking on paper. These characteristics are vital parts of the creative process and they pave the way toward great discoveries and inventions. “This exhibition of Leonardo’s Codex Leicester will be groundbreaking in its approach, bringing Leonardo into a broad artistic context that explores his continuing influence on artists into our own time,” said Jerry Smith, curator of American and European art to 1950 and art of the American West at Phoenix Art Museum.

Claude Monet (1840-1926, French)

The Cliff, Étretat, Sunset, 1883, oil on canvas, 23 13/16” x 32 3/16”

Collection of North Carolina Museum of Art

Making Leonardo da Vinci and the Codex Leicester relevant for today’s audience is the goal of this exhibition. Visitors and academic institutions will participate in programs developed around ideas expressed by Leonardo in the Codex Leicester. “Leonardo was a true Renaissance master and we are able to celebrate his genius through the Codex Leicester,” said James K. Ballinger, The Sybil Harrington Director at Phoenix Art Museum. He added, “This will be the first time original work by the hand of Leonardo will be presented in Arizona, and we are pleased the Museum can create a platform for our community to better understand the challenges we face regarding water resources in the future. This is exactly the kind of project we should be presenting for our visitors.”