The McManus, Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum, is the only Scottish venue to host Leonardo da Vinci’s Ten Drawings – a collection of rarely seen drawings from the Royal Collection, from 31st August to 4th November 2012.

Thousands of people are expected to visit this exhibition, touring in just 5 locations – Birmingham, Bristol, Belfast and Hull; the collection include everything from hydraulics and engineering to anatomy and mapmaking.

Martin Clayton, senior curator for prints and drawings at the Royal Collection, says the drawings represent a mix of preparatory studies for paintings as well as scientific research. Due to the risk of light damage, the drawings have never been on permanent public display.

Of the collection, he says:  “Often when people think of Leonardo they associate him with the Mona Lisa, a flying machine and an anatomical drawing, but his scientific interest is seen as something peripheral.

“Science and engineering was not just a dalliance for him him, they were serious fields of investigation in which we can see from his drawings that he achieved significant success.

The exhibition runs: Friday 31st August to Sunday 4th November 2012.

Admission Free

And to coincide with the exhibition of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, The McManus will showcase Old Master Drawings from the Collection of Dundee Art Galleries and Museums. This exhibition is open from 4th August through to 16th September 2012.

Featuring the works of renowned artists including Ludovico Carracci, Carlo Maratta and Jacopo Amigoni, the exhibition explores the reasons for producing drawings and the techniques involved.

Kept in storage for their preservation, these fragile works on paper are rarely displayed. This is their first showing for several years and with new research on many of the drawings, this is indeed an exhibition of discovery.

Old Master Drawings from the Collection of Dundee Art Galleries and Museums

Exhibition runs: Saturday 4th August until Sunday 16th September 2012.