LEONARDO v LIBRARIES...

What's the hottest ticket in town?...

The hottest ticket in town?

My research team tell me that tickets for this National Gallery ‘Event of the Decade’ are rarer than hen’s teeth…Only one of them has been granted an ‘access all areas pass’ to visit the show, and he says:


“We went on the first Saturday having bought tickets last March…


I wasn’t sure what to expect. We were at first surprised at how small a lot of the pictures were; sometimes only 8cm x 6cm but the exhibition proved to be utterly fascinating and introduced us to da Vinci’s world and his fascination with different ideas and subjects - his willingness to paint in a revolutionary way and in a style not seen at that time. Leonardo wanted his portraits to evoke a living individual possessed of thought and will.


The exhibition was compelling and thought provoking, and transported us into a sumptuous world that required us to think about beauty and love, religion, character and emotions, anatomy, technical measurements and the importance of detail”….


(The identity of my ‘Secret Shopper’ must remain confidential, dear readers – suffice to say that he – or she – is lightly bearded, and writes in a not dissimilar style to Brian Sewell – who, by the way, has an autobiography out very soon…)






Apparently, dear readers, the queues for tickets are simply ghastly – interminably long and prone to occasional bouts of ‘malpractice’…Why! I’ve even heard reports that £16 tickets have been offered on “a certain online auction facility” at many hundreds of pounds – a price beyond the pockets, even, - alas - of the Blogbrarian…Have any other Blogfollowers been?...






And even once you get there, apparently, the exhibition has only nine paintings…Nine! …NINE!...Why! I`ve even got more than that number hanging on my shed walls, and personally I find the crayon-work on them to be exceptionally fine….






No, no dear reader...the more I consider it, the more certain I am; the “hottest ticket in town” isn’t for the National Gallery, but for our very own Bexley Library Service!


Compare those nine paintings to our (last time I counted ‘em) quarter of a million books! Imagine that, Leo!






Now, I do grant you that the chap was a genius, no doubt about it…A scientist, a mapmaker, a musician and a linguist: the father of modern anatomy, a geologist, the greatest architect of his day, and the most influential thinker of Renaissance Europe: an inventor who designed the prototype computer, helicopter, parachute and self-propelled motor vehicle; the world’s leading authority on optics, hydrology, and military engineering: the greatest sculptor of his generation; and a fairly decent jobbing painter – whose work “developed greater significance and complexity in composition, chiaroscuro, and physical insight than has ever been surpassed”…But apart from that, well, what did he really have to offer us?...


He looked so glum…


He wasn’t even the best Ninja Mutant Turtle...


And could he turn his quill to a better adventure yarn than the splendid Dan Brown?...I don’t think so!






No, no dear readers…I remain convinced that a Bexley Library card represents far greater value for money...(We're FREE to join, by the way!)... With a selection of our books, you can read all about him AND learn to paint –(can you guess what it is, yet?) - and you’ll still have 261,403 books left to read. That’s the potential for a lifetime of adventure, leisure, and pleasure – no?






Remember, dear friends, your library card really is the hottest ticket in town!


Libraries? – Good show! – Enjoy!


TTFN