Thoughts made visible

It’s very pleasant to be able to greet a small show at the V&A after the relentless stream of blockbusters we’ve seen in Brompton Road in recent years. Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment and Design is confined to one gallery and consists of 60 drawings displayed in two banks of angled cabinets down the length of the room. Above the display cases animations of the drawings are projected, bringing Leonardo’s static designs to life in the manner of a computer screen saver. Is this necessary? The show itself is so low-key I presume the organisers felt it advisable to include a bit of technological back-up to amuse the punters. Admittance is £7 (£5 for concessions), and, although Leonardo is one of those names which automatically creates box-office queues, it’s not a spectacular display. Leonardo’s drawings are truly marvellous (if cold and unemotional), but looking at ink scratched on to paper is more of a scholarly than a popular pursuit.