The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci with a painting by the artist that will draw crowds but also pay solemn tribute to the larger-than-life Italian Renaissance painter, architect and inventor. “Saint Jerome Praying in the Wilderness” - an unfinished painting on wood on loan from the Vatican Museums - will be on special exhibit July 15-Oct. 6.
According to the museum, the painting is displayed “in a gallery by itself, starkly illuminated within an otherwise darkened space to heighten the picture’s contemplative dimension, which Leonardo intended. The solemn, chapel-like setting will be an evocative nod to the funerals of great Italian artists, which typically featured one of the artist’s works as part of the funerary display.”
