Sharing Guy's Journey

Thoughts, comments, observations, reactions, enthusiasms

  • Email
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Archives

  • Home
  • Personal History
  • History
  • Art & Architecture
  • Music
  • Nature
  • Travel
  • Current Events

Da Vinci – The Genius

July 29, 2010 By Guy St. Clair

Kudos to The National Geographic Society. If you are an East-Coaster, or if you find you’re going to be in the Washington DC area before 12th September, be sure to visit the NGS Museum on 17th Street N.W. You’re in for a mighty fine surprise. “Da Vinci – The Genius” is one of the most fascinating exhibitions you’re ever going to see.

[And yes, I recognize that it’s beginning to appear that I spend my business trips going to museums, but one is required to do something between meetings, isn’t one?]

Described as “the most comprehensive travelling exhibition ever assembled on Leonardo da Vinci,” this one is a spectacular undertaking. For one thing, the term “blockbuster exhibition” is generally reserved for the really big museum shows, especially like some of the huge crowd-pleasers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery in Washington, the Grand Palais or the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, or the de Young in San Francisco. But blockbuster is the only descriptor that does justice to this exhibition (despite the fact that it’s packed into a rather small space).

I learned more in two hours that I ever thought I could learn about Leonardo, and the special section on the Mona Lisa, describing the multi-spectrum camera and photography used in capturing the images of the painting in 2004 really is an eye-opener. Accompanied by a very informative short film, there is much, much to  learn about this exceptional painting by visiting NGS, including what is purported to be an image of what the colors really were before the painting had aged for 500 years.

Similarly (but not as dramatically), the exhibition of other art works (including a fascinating story about The Last Supper) turns out to be equally gripping. Then there are all the drawings, the codices, the models (miniatures, life-size, and exaggerated), all topped off with a description – and film – of the Vitruvian Man which, again, provided more information than I ever thought I would learn about this remarkable work of art and science (but which I am delighted to have provided to me).

Take yourself to Washington and go to the NGS. It’s worth the trip (and give yourself plenty of time – it’s a big exhibition – so big that I never did find the Sforza horse, which I really wanted to see) and you won’t want to rush through this). The exhibition’s site is here.

Filed Under: Art & Architecture Tagged With: da Vinci, DC - Exhibitions, Leonardo da Vinci, National Geographic Society, NGS, Washington

Guy St. Clair is the Series Editor for Knowledge Services, from Verlag Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin, the scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. The series subject is knowledge services, the approach to managing intellectual capital that merges information management, knowledge management (KM), and learning, presenting and discussing new and innovative approaches to knowledge sharing in all fields of work.

In Sharing Guy’s Journey,  Guy writes about any subject that crosses his mind (some friends refer to the blog as “Guy’s online journal”). Subjects covered usually include those displayed at the top of each post (personal history, history, art & architecture, music, nature, and travel), but other topics come up as well.

His books, usually about professional topics, are listed in SMR International’s corporate website, at SMRShare. One of these – Knowledge Services: A Strategic Framework for the 21st Century Organization (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016) – is an Open Access title. The free PDF version of this book is at: https://bit.ly/3msI27V.

Guy is also the author of Knowledge Services: Five Free Webinars from Guy St. Clair, available to anyone who wants to learn more about knowledge services, Guy’s professional and academic specialty. The webinars are offered at no charge.

Guy’s other professional writings are listed in SMR International’s corporate website, at SMRShare. 

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post Archives

Tags

Africa - elephants Africa - migration Africa - Wildlife African bush elephant art nouveau Brooks (David) COVID-19 Drucker (Peter) Elephants Flat Stanley Hesselbein (Frances) Isaacson (Walter) Kenya Kenya - African buffalo Kenya - Culture Kenya - Elephants Kenya - Giraffes Kenya - Lions Kenya - Maasai Kenya - Masai Mara Game Reserve Kenya - Wildlife Kenya - Zebra Knowledge Services Knowledge Sharing leadership Mahler (Gustav) Masai Mara Game Reserve Metropolitan Opera Association New York (Photographs) New York - Murray Hill New York City Nézet-Séguin (Yannick) Obama (Barack) Opera Russia-Ukraine War St. Bartholomew's Church (New York) St. Clair (Guy) Tanzania - Ngorongoro Crater Tanzania - Sopa Lodge Tanzania - Wildlife Venice Verdi (Giuseppe) Vienna - Secession Wagner (Otto) Wildebeest

Copyright © 2022 Guy St. Clair. All Rights Reserved.