Leonardo: Experience a Masterpiece exhibition, National Gallery

A new interactive exhibition at the National Gallery aims to immerse visitors into one of Leonardo da Vinci's most mysterious masterpieces, the Virgin fo the Rocks. There are two versions of this painting, originally intended for an altarpiece in the church of San Francisco Grande in Milan (which no longer stands). The National Gallery's is da Vinci's second canvas, and the first, which was rejected by the confraternity that commissioned it, hangs in the Louvre.

This exhibition pulls out all the stops in an attempt to fire up our imaginations. We are introduced to the landscape that inspired da Vinci, complete with sound effects, as well as a room which explores the chiaroscuro (intense light and dark) that the master employed to imbue his composition with drama. In this room, you can turn dials and push levers to discover what a difference lighting makes to an image.


© Leonardo: Experience a Masterpiece, commissioned & produced by the National Gallery and created by 59 Productions. Photo by National Gallery.

Another room provides a mock-up of a studio-cum-laboratory. In this space, large screens play impressive animations, peeling back layers of paint to reveal earlier compositions. The last gallery presents us with the original work, placed in the centre of a mock-up altar that morphs in front of our very eyes. Some might find this a distraction from the painting – and it undoubtedly is – but the darkened room and choral music creates such a reverent atmosphere, it is impossible not to be a little moved by the experience.

The Virgin of the Rocks is a painting that visitors to the National Gallery can usually see for free, and purists will want to wait until all the props are packed away, so that they can once more admire the work without distraction. But this is the perfect exhibition for young people. It is not information heavy, but does summon a sense of magic that children in paritcular, will get a kick out of.