Leonardo da Vinci. The Genius in Milan

In Spring 2015 Milan paid tribute to Leonardo by holding a large exhibition at the Palazzo Reale. Stemming from this exhibition came the film Leonardo da Vinci - The Genius in Milan, which uses a combination of documentary interviews and mise-en-scènes to tell the story of the Artist's world and the treasures he left us. Inside the exhibition, under the ambiguous gaze of the Belle Ferronnière, one of the paintings loaned by the Louvre for the occasion, we are welcomed by the curator, Pietro Marani. Right before those very works of art, he has the task of introducing such special subjects as the reasons why Leonardo travelled north and his dreams of maturity, as well as discussing Portrait Art and the art of drawing, the works of art that have stayed in the city and those that have returned to it (interacting with the past, the urban context of Milan definitely plays a leading role in the film). Marani's words are upheld by experts talking about their specialist knowledge, interviewed against the backdrop of the symbols of Leonardo's Milan, like the monument in Piazza della Scala and the Museum of Science and Technology. The interviews include Claudio Giorgione analyzing Leonardo the scientist and Richard Schofield on Leonardo the architect; Daniela Pizzagalli is our guide at the Sforza court while Maria Teresa Fiorio reflects on the painters that were followers of the Master. Alongside these interviews, appearing in authentic settings such as the Bicocca degli Arcimboldi and the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie, are the historical figures who were part of Leonardo's life in Milan, played by actors Cristiana Capotondi, Alessandro Haber, Gabriella Pession and Nicola Nocella. A more cinematic approach to the story, a far cry from the storyline of TV documentaries, retains the balance between reality and fiction and the harmonious coexistence of the actors' roles. Milan is the frame and Pietro Marani and the experts the story-tellers of Leonardo the artist and scientist; while prominent, historical figures of the Renaissance such as Ludovico il Moro, Beatrice d'Este, Cecilia Gallerani and Salaì, tell the story of Leonardo the man, in the context of what was a truly legendary period in the city's history, and for the history of art.