Pub In The Park

Once you’ve seen the Coca-Cola Museum and the Georgia Aquarium, you may want to find your way to Atlanta’s High Museum of Art for this last days of its exhibit, Leonardo da Vinci: Hand of the Genius.  There are a few times in life when you’ll be able to witness art work that has lasted for hundreds of years; in fact, there are only two people whose work is so extraordinary, I would do whatever it takes to see their art in person.  One is Michelangelo, particularly his sculpture.  The other is Leonardo da Vinci.

One of the best museums in the Southeast, the organization has collections of classic and contemporary art.  This time around, their exhibiting fifty works of Leonardo da Vinci, as well as twenty sketches as studies, some never seen before inside the United States.  The exhibition is in three parts, stressing different parts of the artist’s life: Leonardo, the Sculptor, the Student, and the Mentor.  As a Sulptor, he planned to create the planet’s biggest and most complicated statue.  The museum has recreated the 26 foot high Sforza Horse in the Sifly Piazza.  As a Student, his works are presented alongside work by his contemporaries, the people from whom he most likely learned, such as Andrea del Verrocchio or Donatello’s famed Bearded Prophet (never before seen outside Italy, not even outside Florence).  As a Mentor, the museum demonstrates Leonardo’s influence over younger artists.  This includes Giovan Francesco Rustici and Peter Paul Rubens.  Rustici’s large bronze figures, John the Baptist Preaching to a Levite and a Pharisee, is provided as an example of this mentoring relationship and friendship.

Hand of the Genius closes on Sunday, February 21st; however, to provide more time for the public to see the works, the museum has extended its hours on the closing weekend.  Friday, February 19th, the gallery will be open from ten in the morning to midnight.  On Saturday, February 20th, it’s ten in the morning to seven in the evening; on Sunday, February 21st, the last day, you’ll have one more opportunity to see the work from noon until six in the evening.  To make sure you don’t miss it, arrange for a room in advance.  There are few opportunities to see legitimate works of genius.