The British Museum’s Reading Room is an imposing space. It takes quite an impressive exhibition to live up to that high domed structure. And the latest collection of objects to occupy the space is nothing if not impressive, including pieces by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci and Titian. A collaboration with the renowned Uffizi Gallery, the exhibition features original, restored drawings by the masters of Italian Renaissance Art.
What is first apparent about the exhibition is that it has been designed with a certain intimacy in mind. A one way maze through the circular space prevents excessive over crowding around the more popular pieces and encourages visitors to examine each drawing. More importantly, an intimacy is achieved simply by the fact that as an observer, you are allowed to stand extremely close to the sketches, separated only by an unobtrusive glass frame.
This means that each crack and fold and even the small holes pierced in the paper used to “trace” the sketches are visible. All of this lends a personal aspect to the exhibition, giving the viewer a chance to put aside the superhuman status of the featured artists and instead see their work as the result of practice, error and redraft. Looking at the pencil studies of hands, the repositioning of limbs and the occasional erased line, many of which were never meant to be seen, you feel as though you are seeing the raw secret of each artist’s talent.
The exhibition is full of interesting and noteworthy pieces. There are many sketches which include writing, such as indications of the colours to be used in a finished painting or Leonardo Da Vinci’s descriptions of the curious tortoise-like war machines he had designed. There are also sketches of women by Botticelli which foreshadow his iconic painting, The Birth of Venus. These drawings are able to humanize a work of art that had become iconic and far from detracting from the masterpiece, they add an extra dimension.
You may find yourself looking far closer at these sketches than any great masterpiece and you’ll find that each piece has a sense of fragility and humanity. And although the British Museum has gathered an extensive collection of drawings, brimming with sketches made by numerous artists, mediums and depicting different subjects, this endearing frailty is the common theme. Simultaneously impressive, subtle and deeply affecting, this is a very different experience than that offered by most exhibitions and it is undeniably worthwhile.
Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian Renaissance Drawings is at the British Museum until July 25. £12 fully price, £10 concessions
