HAMMER GRANT TO UCLA FOR DA VINCI CENTER

A center for the study of the works of Italian Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci will be established at UCLA with a $1-million grant from Armand Hammer, the philanthropist, art patron and head of Occidental Petroleum Corp. The announcement was made by UCLA Chancellor Charles E. Young at a luncheon Tuesday at the chancellor’s residence.

In a prepared release, Hammer said: “This new center undoubtedly will make UCLA pre-eminent for Leonardo studies in the United States and perhaps throughout the world.”

The gift provides for the establishment of the Armand Hammer chair in Leonardo studies. Its first holder will be Prof. Carlo Pedretti, the UCLA scholar reputed to be the world’s leading expert on Leonardo.

Young pointed out the university’s longstanding interest in Leonardo, embodied in its Belt Library of Vinciana, which will be integrated with the new center. The donor said he would provide special scholarly access to Da Vinci’s “Codex Hammer.” Purchased in 1980 for $5.2 million, it is a collection of the artist’s scientific writings and 360 sketches. It is the only Leonardo manuscript in the Western Hemisphere and the only one in private hands.

The gift provides for an award for excellence in Leonardo studies, to be given at least every other year beginning in 1986. As part of the center’s activities, the university will publish a scholarly journal dedicated to the artist’s life and work.