Leonardo in Los Angeles

Yesterday was the last day to see “Leonardo and the Art of Sculpture” at the Getty Center, so there was a big crowd lined up to enter the exhibition. The crowd is milling around three larger-than-life-size bronze figures by Giovan Francesco Rustici, recently restored in Florence and never before seen outside Italy. Leonardo and Rustici worked closely together, and Rustici’s work is considered perhaps the closest to Leonardo’s lost work as a sculptor. The real treasures were da Vinci’s small, exquisite drawings on loan from the Royal Collection, London–I could hardly believe I was seeing some of these!

Architect Richard Meier situated the museum along a natural ridge on a hilltop overlooking the west side of the city, with views out to the Pacific. The buildings are clad in textured, fossilized Italian travertine that really catches the light and has a warm glow in the afternoon. The sculpture on the terrace is Henry Moore’s “Seated Woman”.