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Home>Exhibitions & Events>Exhibitions>Saint Anne, Leonardo da Vinci’s ultimate masterpiece

Acknowledgments:
Salvatore Ferragamo is the exclusive sponsor of this exhibition

Leonardo da Vinci’s masterwork The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, restored with the aid of the C2RMF (Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France), is the centerpiece of an exceptional exhibition that reunites all surviving related works for the first time.

The beginning of the slow and complex genesis of the painting dates back to 1501, when it was first mentioned in Isabella d’Este’s correspondence. Leonardo da Vinci continuously worked to perfect this ambitious composition, left unfinished upon his death in 1519.

Compositional sketches, preparatory drawings, landscape studies and the National Gallery of London’s magnificent cartoon are brought together for the first time since the artist’s death to illustrate his lengthy meditation and expose the succession of solutions he had envisioned.

Other painted artworks by Leonardo are also used to show how the Saint Anne is the true culmination of the artist’s numerous and varied explorations on nature and art.

To reveal the full scale of the artwork’s innovative nature, the exposition also strives to reposition the Saint Anne in the iconographic tradition of its subject (the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne) and demonstrate its considerable influence on Italian art in the early 16th century.

More recent tributes to the artist by Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, and Max Ernst bear witness to the masterpiece’s longstanding influence.

Organized by:

Vincent Delieuvin, curator in the Department of Paintings, Musée du Louvre

Your comments

  • why I can't buy tickets on line. received an answer that my account does not exist?

    Lyubov, Jun 5, 2012 at 9:30 am

  • This is such a beautiful masterpiece. I really admire Leonardo Da Vinci's works, he was both a master of creativity and intelligence. The colour in this painting is absolutely outstanding! The Renaissance period was definitely a period of great culture and creativity. I really hope I will be able to go to the Louvre and be able to enjoy these grand masterpieces and trophies of humankind.

    - Alex

    King George3, Apr 4, 2012 at 1:46 am

    • 1 / 1

    Items per page:5 -10 -15

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Practical information

From March 29 to June 25, 2012

Location:
Napoleon Hall, beneath the Pyramid

Admission:
Ticket for the exhibition: €11.
Combined ticket (permanent collections and exhibition): €14.
Open everyday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., except Tuesday.
Night opening until 9:45 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays, until 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Further information:
+33 (0)1 40 20 53 17

The audio guide of the exhibition

    

    

Use our mobile application to make the most of your exhibition visit!

Discover the fascinating facts behind the masterpieces on display with the help of curator Vincent Delieuvin from the Louvre Department of Paintings, who also curated the exhibition.

Exploring some twenty key works, Vincent Delieuvin discusses major themes of the exhibition such as the conception and execution of the Saint Anne masterpiece, its significance in Leonardo’s career, and its impact both at the time of its creation and in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Find your way around with our interactive map.

Access all the information you need about the museum in general.