Following the exhibitions at our partner venues, in May 2019 the drawings will be brought together to form part of an exhibition of over 200 sheets at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, the largest exhibition of Leonardo's work in over 65 years.  A selection of 80 drawings will then travel to The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse in November 2019, the largest group of Leonardo's works ever shown in Scotland. 

Leonardo used ink made from oak galls and iron salts, which is transparent in infrared light, allowing his black chalk underdrawing to be seen for the first time. Examination of A Deluge, c.1517–18 (to be shown at the National Museum Cardiff) revealed that beneath the pattern-like arrangement of rain and waves in brown ink, Leonardo drew a swirling knot of energy in black chalk at the heart of the composition. Similarly, in Studies of water, c.1517–18 (to be shown at the Millennium Gallery, Sheffield) he built up the image in stages, first creating an underlying structure of water currents in chalk and then adding little rosettes of bubbles on the surface in ink, almost as decoration.

Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), A deluge,  c.1517-18. Pen and black ink with wash, 16.2 x 20.3 cm (sheet of paper), RCIN 912380. Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), Recto: Studies of flowing water, with notes, Verso: Studies of flowing water, with notes, c.1510-13. Pen and ink over red chalk, 29.6 x 20.7 cm (sheet of paper), RCIN 912660. Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2018

All the drawings by Leonardo in the Royal Collection were bound into a single album by the sculptor Pompeo Leoni in Milan around 1590 and entered the Collection during the reign of Charles II. What appear to be two completely blank sheets of paper from this album will be on public display for the first time at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace. Examination in ultraviolet light has revealed these sheets to be Studies of hands for the Adoration of the Magi, c.1481 and among Leonardo's most beautiful drawings. Watch a clip from the recent Royal Collection Season on the BBC showing the sketches appearing under ultraviolet light. 

Leonardo executed the studies of hands in metalpoint, which involves drawing with a metal stylus on prepared paper. One of the sheets was examined at the UK's national synchrotron, the Diamond Light Source at Harwell, Oxfordshire, using high-energy X-ray fluorescence to map the distribution of chemical elements on the paper. It was discovered that the drawings had become invisible to the naked eye because of the high copper content in the stylus that Leonardo used – the metallic copper had reacted over time to a become a transparent copper salt. By contrast, A design for the Sforza monument, c.1485–8 (to be shown at Leeds Art Gallery), which is drawn with a silver stylus, is still fully visible.

Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), Recto: A study for an equestrian monument, Verso: Studies of flowing water, a cross-bow, geometry, etc.c.1485-90. Recto: Metalpoint on blue prepared paper. Verso: Pen and ink, 15.2 x 18.8 cm (sheet of paper), RCIN 912358. Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2018

1 February – 6 May 2019 - exhibitions of 12 drawings at the following locations

• Ulster Museum, Belfast
• Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
• Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
• National Museum Cardiff
• Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
• Leeds Art Gallery
• Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
• Manchester Art Gallery
• Millennium Gallery, Sheffield
• Southampton City Art Gallery
• Sunderland Museums and Winter Gardens
• A further location to be announced

24 May – 13 October 2019 - exhibition of over 200 drawings
The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London  

22 November 2019 – 15 March 2020 - exhibition of 80 drawings
The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh

Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), Recto: The cranium sectioned. Verso: The skull sectioned, 1489. Recto: Pen and ink. Verso: Pen and ink over traces of black chalk, 19.0 x 13.7 cm (sheet of paper), RCIN 919058. Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2018.

Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), A map of the Valdichiana, c.1503-4. Pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour over black chalk, 33.8 x 48.8 cm (sheet of paper), RCIN 912278. Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2018.

Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), Cats, lions, and a dragon, c.1513-18. Pen and ink with wash over black chalk, 27.0 x 21.0 cm (sheet of paper), RCIN 912363. Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2018.

Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), The head of a youth in profile, c.1510. Red and black chalks on pale red prepared paper, 21.7 x 15.3 cm (sheet of paper), RCIN 912554. Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2018.

Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), The head of Leda, c.1504-06. Pen and ink over black chalk, 17.7 x 14.7 cm (sheet of paper), RCIN 912518. Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2018.

Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum), wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa) and sun spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia), c.1505-10. Pen and ink and red chalk, 19.8 x 16.0 cm (sheet of paper), RCIN 912424. Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2018.

Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), Recto: Studies of gun-barrels and mortars. Verso: A town wall being blown up, c.1485-90. Recto: Pen and ink. Verso: Pen and ink over metalpoint on pale blue prepared paper, 28.2 x 20.5 cm (sheet of paper), RCIN 912652. Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2018.

Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), Mortars bombarding a fortress, c.1503-04. Pen and ink with brown wash over a little black chalk, 32.9 x 48.0 cm (sheet of paper), RCIN 912275. Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2018.