The British National Gallery will limit the number of tickets for the exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci

The British National Gallery plans to limit the number of tickets for the upcoming Leonardo da Vinci exhibition to reduce people’s discontent from the stampede due to too many visitors.

“We carefully examined the problems encountered at the most popular exhibitions in recent years, and decided to take measures before the opening of perhaps the most important and significant exhibition,” said Nick Penny, director of the national gallery.

Instead of 230 people per half an hour on each wing, acceptable in accordance with labor safety and health standards in force in England, a decision was made to limit itself to the 180th. Such restrictions are caused by frequent complaints of people about discomfort due to excessive stampede when visiting exhibitions.

“However, there are other restrictions that we can introduce. For example, paintings containing small, refined details will be most optimally perceived by small groups of people, regardless of the scale of the entire exhibition, so access to such exhibits will be limited. ”

The gallery on Trafalgar Square also plans to increase the exhibition capacity by 20 percent by extending the opening hours and opening on the first day after the New Year, which will help compensate for the drop in revenue due to the restriction of visitors.

Leonardo da Vinci’s exhibition will feature a large number of rare surviving masterpieces of the artist, including "Lady with an ermine" . Many critics consider this portrait of Cecilia Gallerani’s lover Ludovico Il Moro, Cecilia Gallerani, to be the greatest work of Leonardo, a Renaissance master.

Although the Mona Lisa will not be presented at the exhibition, the organizers promise to introduce art lovers to exhibits that have never been exhibited in the UK. For example, such well-known works as “Madonna Litta”, located in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, and “The Lady with the Ferronier” from the Louvre in Paris.

The exhibition opens on November 9, 2011 and runs through February 5, 2012.

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