Lecture "The sweet sadness of the mouth". Leonardo through Goethe's eyes

The Leda Code. A masterpiece full of riddles

Leonardo da Vinci, the 500th anniversary of whose death will be celebrated in 2019, is the epitome of a universal genius alongside Michelangelo - a painter, sculptor, architect and inventor, a restless spirit full of unbridled creativity who rarely stayed in one place. It was often his pupils who finished what he had conceived. The Old Masters Picture Gallery owes one of its most important paintings to him: Leda with her children, designed by Leonardo and completed by his pupil Giampietrino. When the painting came to Kassel, it triggered a veritable Leonardo euphoria. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe erupted in joy at this painting, the Electress of Hesse-Kassel copied it enthusiastically and the Riepenhausen brothers were inspired to create new works. This masterpiece left its mark on Thomas Mann's novels and became a bone of contention for the powerful, from Napoleon to Hermann Göring. The exhibition traces this work, its genesis in the spirit of Leonardo and the history of its numerous owners as well as its prominent viewers.

Dr. Justus Lange, Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel
In cooperation with the Goethe-Gesellschaft Kassel e.V.

The lecture is part of the program accompanying the exhibition "The Leda Code. A masterpiece full of riddles" at Wilhelmshöhe Palace from November 1, 2019 to February 2, 2020.

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