Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Titian drawings to go on show in Scotland for first time in 'rare' chance

Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Titian will be among 45 Italian Renaissance works of art to go on display in Scotland for the first time.

Part of an exhibition featuring more than 80 drawings by 57 artists – the most wide-ranging show of its kind in Scotland in over half a century - Drawing the Italian Renaissance will open at The King’s Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh in October.

Many of the drawings are rarely put on display, due to their sensitivity to light.

Following a successful run in London, the exhibition will explore how drawing was key to artistic practice in all fields during the Italian Renaissance. The display will reveal how dynamic the art of drawing became during this revolutionary artistic period.

Curators examine drawings in the exhibition to be held at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. | Royal Collection

Lauren Porter, curator of Drawing the Italian Renaissance in Edinburgh, said: “The Royal Collection holds one of the finest collections of Italian Renaissance drawings, many of which were acquired during the reign of Charles II.

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“The drawings cannot be on permanent display because of their sensitivity to light, so this exhibition offers a rare and exciting opportunity for visitors to see a wide variety of works from this great collection, many of which are on display in Scotland for the first time.”

Ms Porter added: “Drawings were fundamental to the art of the Renaissance, allowing artists to conceive and explore ideas, refine their designs and to experiment. Being able to view these drawings so closely will give visitors a unique insight into the minds of these great Italian Renaissance artists.”

The exhibition will highlight the continued relevance of drawing today as an essential part of many artists’ practice. Two artists-in-residence, both alumni of Edinburgh College of Art and appointed in collaboration with the school, will be drawing in the gallery on selected days throughout the exhibition’s run.

Visitors to the exhibition will also be encouraged to take inspiration from the works on display and try their hand at drawing with pencils and paper available in the gallery.

Restoration work is carried out to Bernardino Campi'sThe Virgin and Child. | Royal Collections

Most drawings from the Italian Renaissance were created as preparation for projects in a variety of media, from paintings and prints to architecture, sculpture, metalwork, tapestry and costume. They were often discarded after they had served their purpose, and only a small proportion have survived to the present day.

The oldest drawing in the exhibition, in which an unknown artist depicts a young man sitting and drawing with a sleeping dog by his side, is around 550 years old and will be exhibited in Scotland for the first time.

Also on display for the first time in Scotland will be an elaborately worked drawing in red and black chalk on red prepared paper of the curly-haired head of a young man by Leonardo da Vinci, and Federico Barocci's drawing of the head of the Virgin in delicately blended colourful chalks. The idealised features of these two head studies contrast with the distorted and tormented facial expression of the grotesque head drawn by Michelangelo, which will be displayed nearby.