Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester and the Creative Mind

In accordance with Governor Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 117, and to help limit the spread of COVID-19 in North Carolina, the NCMA is closed until further notice. While the Museum Park remains open for walking, running, and biking, visitors should practice extreme caution and take strict social distancing measures. See a full list of affected programs and events at ncartmuseum.org/covid19.

East Building, Level B, Joyce W. Pope Gallery

The Codex Leicester is a 500-year-old notebook from inventor, scientist, and artist Leonardo da Vinci. Named after the Earl of Leicester, who purchased the 72-page manuscript in 1717, it is composed of 18 sheets of paper, each folded in half and written in the artist’s famed “mirror writing.”

Together with the rough sketches and drawings accompanying them, the notes reveal Leonardo’s relentless intellectual curiosity, offering a glimpse into one of the greatest minds in history.

The central theme of the work is water, but this quickly expands into astronomy (because he believed that the moon’s surface was covered in water), light and shade, and mechanics, as he investigates aspects of impetus, percussion, and wave action in the movement of water. Along the way Leonardo makes observations on such diverse subjects as why the sky appears blue, the journey of a bubble rising through water, why fossilized seashells are found on mountaintops, and the nature of celestial light. The Codex is the only one of Leonardo’s manuscripts in North America.

Entry to Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester requires security screening. Visitors to the exhibition must pass through a metal detector before entering the gallery. Liquids, lotions, food, pens, markers, and weapons are not permitted inside the exhibition. Other items will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the NCMA’s security team.

Non-flash photography is permitted in this exhibition.

TICKETS

$18 Adults
$15 Seniors (65+), military, groups of 10+, college students with current ID
$12 Youth 7−18
Free: Members (first visit), children 6 and under, college students on Friday nights 5−9 pm (with current ID)

Tickets

Exhibition Café

A special café on Level C in East Building, one floor down from the exhibition, features sandwiches, soups, desserts, sodas, beer, wine, and more.

Exhibition Café Hours

Tuesday–Sunday 10 am–4:30 pm
Friday 10 am–8:30 pm

Prefer to have a full-service meal? Visit Iris restaurant in West Building.

Exhibition Store

A special exhibition-related shop in East Building features unique gifts, books, art prints, and more.

Exhibition Store Hours

Tuesday–Thursday 10 am–5 pm
Friday 10 am–9 pm
Saturday and Sunday 10 am–5 pm

Also please visit the main Museum Store in West Building.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Looking for parking details, nearby hotels, directions to the NCMA, or other information? Plan your visit.

The Codex Leicester is on loan from Bill Gates. In Raleigh generous support is provided by the Ron and Jeanette Doggett Fund. This exhibition is also made possible, in part, by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources; the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.; and the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment for Educational Exhibitions. Research for this exhibition was made possible by Ann and Jim Goodnight/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fund for Curatorial and Conservation Research and Travel.