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Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man will join several works at a blockbuster exhibition on the Renaissance artist’s life at the Louvre after an Italian court rejected an appeal against the drawing being lent to the Paris museum.
Italia Nostra, a heritage group, recently filed a complaint saying the drawing, which is kept in a climate-controlled vault at the Accademia Gallery of Venice, was too fragile to travel and risked being damaged by lighting in the Louvre if displayed for a long period.
The last-minute legal challenge had threatened to disrupt an agreement between Italy and France for seven Leonardo works to be lent to Paris for the exhibition commemorating the 500th anniversary of his death. The exhibition is due to open on 24 October.
As a symbolic gesture, Italy’s culture minister, Dario Franceschini, and his French counterpart, Franck Riester, signed the accord last month, ending a feud triggered by the previous Italian government over the loans. In return, France will lend Italy paintings by Raphael for events marking 500 years since his death next year.
In its complaint, Italia Nostra had argued that because Vitruvian Man could be displayed only for short periods every six years, it risked having to be concealed for up to a decade if shown at the Louvre because the drawing had previously been exhibited in Venice this year.
The Louvre holds five of only 14 paintings attributed to Leonardo, who was born near the Tuscan town of Vinci in 1452. The other works by the artist being borrowed by the museum include the Battle of Anghiari and the Adoration of the Magi, both housed at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Leonardo died in France in 1519.
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