"Grotesques: Leonardo’s Strange Legacy "

April 14 – July 18, 2004

Stanford, CA, March 19, 2004— An exhibition of prints and previously unexhibited drawings provides a rare opportunity to consider an important aspect of Leonardo da Vinci’s legacy. The Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University presents "Grotesques: Leonardo’s Strange Legacy" April 14 – July 18, 2004. The exhibition features 18 drawings and prints, all copies of Leonardo's “grotesques,” sketches of individuals with startlingly exaggerated features.

Leonardo’s grotesques were well known during his lifetime (1452–1519) through prints as well as through drawn copies. Artists and collectors alike cherished them during the artist's life and in the centuries that followed because of the works' intrinsic fascination and because their fantastic diversity revealed Leonardo’s exceptional ingenuity. Until the late 18th century, Leonardo's reputation among artists and connoisseurs depended largely upon these bizarre faces, which were copied and recopied by generations of artists.

The exhibition features two clusters of copies, all on loan from the collection of Kirk Edward Long. One group of late-16th-century drawings includes eight figures known either from surviving drawings or other copies and three that presumably represent lost originals. The second group includes six etchings by Wenceslas Hollar (1607–1677) after drawings formerly in the collection of the Earl of Arundel and now in the British royal collection.

VISITOR INFORMATION Cantor Arts Center is open Wednesday – Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday until 8 p.m. Admission is free. The Center is located on the Stanford University campus off Palm Drive, at Museum Way. Visit website or call 650-723-4177 for information.