30.12.11

Everyone seems to be at it – the most photographed queues are the ones outside Selfridges, Harrods and Bridgewater Outlet – but all across the country British people are standing patiently in queues and trying to teach all our visiting tourists  the “proper”way to take part in one of our favourite National pastimes!

My queue on Wednesday was outside the National Gallery in London, where I arrived a little later than planned after 08.00, and joined what looked that a surprisingly short queue outside the Sainsbury wing to try and see the much lauded exhibition Leonardo da Vinci – Painter at the Court of Milan – 1482-99.

Queue for Leonardo - 08.30

Naturally this was not the case! – the hidden queue stretched back around the corner and doubled back on itself before reaching out across the front of the National Gallery to where I stood without moving until after 10.00 – but enjoying a good view across Trafalgar Square.

Booted, hatted and gloved in the mild winter sunshine it was quite a pleasure to stand and people watch and contemplate the joys to come,  but by the time my friend Leslie arrived at 09.30 the misty sunlight had been replaced by rain clouds and National Gallery Officials were busy turning away newcomers trying to join the queue and facing a lot of abuse for their trouble! But good news for us – albeit not until  18.30 – we were definitely going to get in!

So the next stage was the wait – I don’t think Leslie, who is over here visiting London from her home in Florence, was the only one in the queue who thought I was joking when I said the wait could be 4-5 hours – just to pay for the tickets – and she , poor thing, had left the house in the mild winter sunshine and actually gone back in to drop off what seemed unnecessary encumbrances – gloves, scarf and hat…… BIG mistake!

Lovely Leslie adopting the pose of a penguin outside the National Gallery

Beautiful and still smiling lovely Leslie bravely tried to fend off the cold by flapping her wings like a penguin – but it was no good – instead we adopted the Swiss clock approach – one going inside the Gallery and getting warm and then changing places with the frozen one who dived in for her turn in the brilliant (warm) National gallery bookshop!

But was it worth the effort you say? Yes, of course it was !- probably one of the best thought out arrangement of masterpieces it was possible to devise – starting with the key to the exhibition in the first room – a small drawing of the ventricles of the brain and the layers of the scalp – Leonardo wanted to show his concept that “seeing” impacted the working of the brain – and more importantly – the soul, imagination and intellect. The exhibition then goes on to show Leonardo’s  development from his arrival in the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan as a musician, (Did you know that?!)to a much sought after portrait painter.

He moved the portrait genre from the formalised pictures of rich Donors in profile found in churches across Italy, through to the innovation of face forward character studies, with emotion and expression displayed though their gestures and most importantly – their eyes.

To me the most beautiful luminous painting displayed is that of Cecilia Gallerani, the 16 year old mistress of Ludovico Sforza, holding the ermine which might symbolise the purity of her beauty ( white winter stoats prefer death to getting their coats dirty they say!) – or might symbolise her relationship with the Milanese leader who had recently been appointed as a Master of the Ermine.

Also shown at the Exhibition is the recently re-discovered – and re-attributed to Leonardo – Salvator Mundi – Christ as the Saviour of the World holding a rock crystal orb to represent the universe.

The final part of the exhibition in the Sunley Room is all devoted to the Last Supper – A copy of the wall painting where Leonardo painted all the characters in the Last Supper  displaying emotions in line with their behavioural characteristics as described in the New Testament.

There has been a whole book , in the form of an excellent catalogue, written about the works in this exhibition, which still only covers 17 years of a long and highly productive life,  so I don’t plan to attempt to rewrite it here      –  After all seeing is believing – but you need to get there early – ( the Gallery officials mentioned people queuing from 05.30!!)  and Yes!!Yes ! Yes! – it is well worth the wait!