Leonardo da Vinci’s Saint John the Baptist has settled into its temporary new home at Louvre Abu Dhabi, where the masterpiece by the Tuscan renaissance painter will be on display for the next two years.
The painting, on loan from Paris' Musee de Louvre, was removed from the prestigious French institution last month. After taking meticulous measurements to ensure its level presentation, workers hung Saint John the Baptist at Louvre Abu Dhabi on Monday. The artwork is being displayed in Gallery 7 of the museum, First Globalisation, and is dedicated to the unprecedented cultural exchange that swept the globe between the 1500s and 1700s.
Displayed among other works from the era that have been sourced from around the world, the painting is a fitting addition to Louvre Abu Dhabi’s ‘universal museum’ model and its director, Manuel Rabate, says it is a “vibrant manifestation” of the relationship between the two Louvres.
“The painting is one of the crown jewels of the Louvre in Paris,” he tells The National. “And it’s now in Abu Dhabi. Da Vinci is a universal genius, a polymath and an icon of artistry. He was open to the world and interacting with it, and this is what’s happening in Saadiyat right now. Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the Abrahamic House and the Natural History Museum, all of this shows a curiosity and openness to the world, but also to do it with intelligence and beauty.”
The painting exhibits techniques that Leonardo da Vinci spent a lifetime perfecting. Mahmoud Rida / The National
Thought to have been painted between 1513 and 1516, Saint John the Baptist is perhaps the best representation of Leonardo's chiaroscuro technique — a method of treating light and shadow — as well as a spectacular example of sfumato, a canonical mode of painting during the Renaissance, featuring a softened transition of colours. The painting was among those that Leonardo continuously worked on until his death in France in 1519.
Vincent Delieuvin, curator of Italian paintings of the 16th century at Musee du Louvre, says the work is the zenith of Leonardo's experimentations.
“He lived quite long for his time,” he tells The National. “He was 67 when he died. He only painted a few paintings but wanted them to be perfect. During his career, he developed an experimental technique called sfumato to make a perfect transition between light and shadow. It gives a kind of vibration to the painting.
'John The Baptist' by Leonardo Da Vinci being delivered and hung at The Louvre Abu Dhabi. Mahmoud Rida / The National
"He improved his technique with his last three paintings, which include the Mona Lisa and Saint John the Baptist, the most complex and sophisticated. They show Leonardo at his highest level.”
The chiaroscuro also helps to give an unparalleled depiction of the biblical subject, and with its play on light and shadow, is ideal in rendering on canvas the “messenger of light and hope”, Souraya Noujaim, director of scientific, curatorial and collections management at Louvre Abu Dhabi, tells The National.
From right: Manuel Rabaté, director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, Stéphanie Debien, chargée d'affaire at the French Embassy in the UAE, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Louvre Abu Dhabi and DCT - Abu Dhabi, Dr. Souraya Noujaim, director of the Scientific, Curatorial and Collection Management Department at Louvre Abu Dhabi, and Vincent Delieuvin, curator of Italian paintings of the 16th century at musée du Louvre's Department of Paintings. Photo: Louvre Abu Dhabi
“You see this figure, and you see this twist of his body, and he is speaking to you as an individual,” she says. “It’s important to our narrative. It has a history of movement, not only with Leonardo da Vinci, and that also makes it meaningful. Seeing it here in Abu Dhabi as a symbol of those exchanges is a gift for us and the audience.”
The painting has arrived at Louvre Abu Dhabi in midst of its fifth anniversary celebrations. Whereas another Leonardo work, Portrait of an Unknown Woman, also known as La Belle Ferronniere, was loaned by the Louvre to its Abu Dhabi sibling to celebrate its opening in 2017, Saint John the Baptist marks a new chapter in the museum’s mission, says Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi.
Leonardo da Vinci's 'Saint John the Baptist'. Photo: Louvre Museum / Tony Querrec
“The arrival of the globally revered masterpiece, Saint John the Baptist, as Louvre Abu Dhabi celebrates its five-year anniversary, is symbolic of our enduring collaboration with our partners in France and reinforces Abu Dhabi’s position as a global cultural centre,” he says.
“In one month alone, we will have featured a powerhouse of cultural events in the emirate, including the Culture Summit Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Art and, of course, this important milestone celebration for Louvre Abu Dhabi.
"Over the past five years, Louvre Abu Dhabi has evolved into a flagship museum in the Arab world and now, visitors, both from home and overseas, have yet another reason to visit the museum and engage with a magnificent artwork that captures an extraordinary moment in history.”
Rabate echoes the sentiment, saying: “We opened and welcomed more than three million visitors in the past five years. This, including the years of travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We put the first universal museum in the Arab world. It’s a model that is truly rooted in its territory, in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE and the Arab world.
"You see that in the way the seven emirates are represented, in the loans from Saudi Arabia and from Oman. There will be new loans and programming that will keep telling this universal story.
"We will continue enhancing the innovative visitor experience, and to be an educational hub. We helped in the creation of a new generation of museum specialists here. That’s very important and will be developed again and again for the future.”
'Bazille Studio' (1870), oil on canvas by Frederic Bazille and Edouard Manet. Victor Besa / The National
'Floor Scrapers' (1875), oil on canvas by Gustave Caillebotte. Victor Besa / The National
'In the Cafe' (1880), oil on canvas by Gustave Caillebotte. Victor Besa / The National
'The Bezique Game' (1880), oil on canvas by Gustave Caillebotte. Victor Besa / The National
'Spring' (1857), oil on canvas by Charles-Francois Daubigny. Victor Besa / The National
'Woman with a Coffee Pot' (1890-95), oil on canvas by Paul Cezanne. Victor Besa / The National
Sylvie Patry, chief curator and deputy director for Collections and Curatorial Affairs at Musée d’Orsay. Victor Besa / The National
'Apples and Oranges' (1839), oil on canvas by Paul Cezanne. Victor Besa / The National
'The Pastures under a Cloudy Sky' (1856-60), oil on canvas by Constant Troyon. Victor Besa / The National
'Family Reunion' (1867-1841), oil on canvas by Frederic Bazille. Victor Besa / The National
'The Cup of Chocolate' (1877-78), oil on canvas by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Victor Besa / The National
'The Ice Floes' (1880), oil on canvas by Claude Monet. Victor Besa / The National
'The Improvised Field Hospital' (1865), oil on canvas by Frederic Bazille. Victor Besa / The National
'A Studio at Les Batignolles' (1870), oil on canvas by Henri Fantin-Latour. Victor Besa / The National
'The Two Sisters' (1863), oil on canvas by James Tissot. Victor Besa / The National
'Rue Montorgueil, Paris' (1878), oil on canvas by Claude Monet. Victor Besa / The National
'Saint-Lazare Railway Station' (1877), oil on canvas by Claude Monet. Victor Besa / The National
'The Balcony' (1868-69), oil on canvas by Edouard Manet. Victor Besa / The National
'Floor Scrapers' by Gustave Cailebotte, oil on canvas. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
The exhibition is running until February. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
It highlights how the French artists, known as 'the impressionists', were rebels of their time. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
Their vibrant brushstrokes and outdoor landscapes broke conventional art rules in the 19th century. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
'The Lady with the Glove' by Carlos-Duran. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
List of UAE medal winners
Gold
Faisal Al Ketbi (Open weight and 94kg)
Talib Al Kirbi (69kg)
Omar Al Fadhli (56kg)
Silver
Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Khalfan Belhol (85kg)
Zayed Al Mansoori (62kg)
Mouza Al Shamsi (49kg women)
Bronze
Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi (Open and 94kg)
Saood Al Hammadi (77kg)
Said Al Mazroui (62kg)
Obaid Al Nuaimi (56kg)
Bashayer Al Matrooshi (62kg women)
Reem Abdulkareem (45kg women)
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Aahid Al Khalediah II, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Whistle, Harry Bentley, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup - Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Alsaied, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6.30pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Mumayaza, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
8pm: President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Medahim, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024. It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine. Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages]. The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts. With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians. Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved. Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world. The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
One in four Americans don't plan to retire
Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.
Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.
According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.
According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.
For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.
"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."
When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared.
"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.
She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
Sole survivors
Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
