Painter at the court of Milan

The landmark Leonardo da Vinci exhibition in London, which examines his career as a painter in Milan, is thought to be one of the most popular art exhibitions ever. The National Gallery is showing more than half of all the surviving da Vinci paintings and seven paintings which have never been shown publicly before. These, alongside many drawings, offer a unique opportunity to compare his works and understand his influences.
I won't be able to travel to London to see it and I believe that tickets are now scarce so I was very pleased to see the exhibition catalogue book arrive in the OPU office last week.
The book focuses on the period in the 1480s and 1490s when Leonardo was working as a salaried court artist to Duke Ludovico Sforza in Milan. During this time, freed from the commercial pressures of Florence, Leonardo produced some of his most influential work. The book has large glossy illustrations and detailed analyses of these - his two versions of The Virgin of the Rocks, The Last Supper and The Lady with an Ermine together with details and drawn studies.
There are essays on Leonardo's service to the Duke of Milan, his painting technique and studies of other works in the catalogue.
Leonardo set a new standard when he was in Milan; his style became the visual language of the regime through his ideals of beauty and his theories of expression and character.

Leonardo da Vinci: painter at the court of Milan by Luke Syson (et al) is at NLS shelfmark OP4.211.2 and the National Gallery exhibition runs until 5th February 2012.

One false step

Painting History Delaroche and Lady Jane Grey
Stephen Bann and Linda Whiteley
National Gallery

This book recently arrived on my desk, and it is a stunning book. The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by the French painter Paul Delaroche is one of the most popular paintings in the National Gallery. The book describes this picture and shows detailed shots and others paintings from Delaroche’s lifetime.
The book explores the influence of popular prints and theatre on Delaroche’s portrayals of English history, as well as supplying a biography of Lady Jane Grey who was Queen of England for only nine days.
I have always been fascinated with the Tudor period. I wondered what it would have been like to live among these kings, queens and nobles, all vying for power and using whatever means – even family members to become more powerful, and if that is your daughter then so be it. There was also the fear factor - that one false move could cost you your life.
The book also contains other illustrations such as the Puritan and Cavalier, 1880 and a particularly beautiful painting of Anne Boleyn in the Tower shortly after her arrest (see above left).
It is a wonderful book, slightly on the morbid side as quite a few of the illustrations are about imprisonment and executions. This is a good book to leaf through to admire the richness of the art work of Paul Delaroche and other painters.