Aims of exhibition: 1) to highlight the figure of the physicist and science historian Giovanni Battista Venturi (1746-1822), collector and Leonardo’s scholar; 2) to enhance an important and not well known section of the bibliographical and iconographic heritage of the Biblioteca Panizzi; 3) to promote knowledge of Leonardo’s work and critical success.
The exhibition is based on a process of analysis and study of the more interesting collections and documents concerning the subject and will be organized in five sections: 1) “Who was Venturi and why he is important with reference to Leonardo”: his biographical and intellectual profile in particular as Leonardo’s scholar and as creator of the fund named after him, with exhibition of the direct copies from the Leonardo’s manuscripts kept in Paris; 2) “Leonardo: the texts”: manuscript and printed books of the Leonardo’s works, in particular referring to Treatise on painting; 3) “Leonardo: the image”: Leonardo’s portraits, scenes from Leonardo’s life and printed reproductions of Leonardo’s pictures, from Reggio Emilia public collections; 4) “Leonardo: the library”: authors and works, in original paper version or facsimile, that contributed to Leonardo’s formation; 5) “Leonardo: the criticism”: Leonardo’s critical success, through works, editions and studies of Leonardo’s scholars, starting from the publication of the Essai sur les ouvrages physico-mathématiques de Léonard de Vinci by G.B. Venturi (Paris, 1797) to the editions appeared during the fifth centenary of the Leonardo’s birth (1952).