Da Vinci exhibit coming to High Museum next year

Leonardo da Vinci’s got a room at the High Museum this fall. Next year, the Renaissance master will have a whole floor.

“Leonardo da Vinci and the Art of Sculpture: Inspiration and Invention,” the first exhibition to explore his interest in and influence on sculpture, will premiere at the High in October 2009.

The exhibit, a smaller version of which will travel to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, features some 25 of Leonardo’s sketches and studies. They include studies of antique and Renaissance sculptures as well as plans for his own work. A special group is devoted to the creation of his legendary, but never realized, 24-foot-tall bronze of Duke Francesco Sforza mounted on horseback.

There will be no Leonardo sculptures, which are rare. Three-dimensional works by Donatello, Verrocchio, and Rustici will be used to show the influence of prior generations on his thinking and his effect on the next one. As with previous exhibits, a section will be devoted to how sculptures were made.

This show is an outgrowth of the eight-year relationship the High has built with the arts institutions of Florence.