Leonardo's Workshop

[Dr von Zarkov]

From 12 September 2009 to 5 April 2010, the Vigevano Castle will host Il Laboratorio di Leonardo, “Leonardo’s Workshop – His Codices, Machines and Drawings”, produced by Leonardo 3, offering a “total Leonardo da Vinci experience”. Innovative technologies will enable the public to get to know the great maestro’s most important codices, together with unprecedented physical and digital reconstructions of some of his extraordinary devices, such as the Flying Machine and the Lion, as well as coming into close contact with the drawings and paintings presented using the HyperView technology. For the first time, visitors will be able to use the Virtual Codex technology to browse virtually through Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus, Codex on the Flight of Birds and Manuscript B. But that’s not all: all these machines will spring out of the page in 3D, so that the public at large will be able to understand Leonardo’s more complex designs. In fact, in addition to blowing the details up to show them as they have never been seen before, the most important drawings will be illustrated with 3D animations and physical models, which will make their mechanisms more immediately understandable. This initiative constitutes the largest, most fascinating collection of writings and drawings by Leonardo da Vinci ever presented in Italy and also covers a significant period in the life of the great artist, architect, engineer and scientist. What makes this exhibition so irresistible is its enormous variety: visitors will find themselves all of sudden face to face with extraordinary drawings dedicated to mechanics, engineering, architecture, mathematics, geometry, astronomy, botany, zoology, anatomy, the military arts and physics.

[Miss Genevieve Gale]

I wish I could visit the exhibit in Italy :sigh: but will have to be satisfied with the one in my home town.

Coming the the VanAndel Museum Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA September 5, 2009- January 3, 2010-
Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion presents 40 life-sized and fully operational artifacts, as opposed to miniatures or static displays, grouped into four sections based upon applications linked to the elements of air, water, land and fire. Most of the materials used in the construction of these machines, including wood, rope and glue, were available in da Vinci’s era, and are the ones proposed by him in his codices.  The machines were crafted by hand using tools prescribed by the master himself, and then reinforced for the traveling exhibition.  Visitors are encouraged to touch and set the machines into motion, combining a fascinating hands-on experience with an exploration of the principles da Vinci employed to create each machine.

[Dr von Zarkov]

Thank you, Miss Gale, for the information. A link to the Grand Rapids exhibit may be found here.

[Lazaras]

A pity I cannot go to Italy for this.

[Dr von Zarkov]

"Leonardo Da Vinci's Workshop" has just opened in New York City and will run until March 2010. See the review in the New York Times: www.nytimes.com Read more about the Leonardo3 Project.