The Mystery of Worcester's Leonardo

This exhibition will bring together two early Italian panel paintings for the first time since they were separated from their original altarpiece: the Annunciation at the Musée du Louvre and WAM's Miracle of San Donato.

Research on the Worcester picture has been conducted by Rita Albertson, Chief Conservator at WAM, with contributions by Laurence Kanter, Chief Curator and Lionel Goldfrank III Curator of European Art, Yale University Art Gallery. Bruno Mottin, scientist at the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (C2RMF) in Paris has performed equivalent research on the Louvre's painting, providing a remarkable opportunity for comparative study. Using information derived from technical research to inform judgments of connoisseurship, the exhibition will demonstrate the complexity of attribution decisions while also encouraging the viewer to make slow and careful observations. The ongoing debates about these works have raised new and interesting questions regarding the young Leonardo and Renaissance workshop practices.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.