Rome's Scuderie Del Quirinale is taking part in the “Year of Leonardo” to honor the 500 year anniversary of Da Vinci's death. It is doing so with an exhibitionw with over 200 models, drawings, manuscripts, and designs on display.
The show called “Science before Science” includes 10 of Da Vinci's original drawings from his Codex Atlanticus. These intricate designs cover a wide range of machinery including motors, parachute systems, and more. They are on loan from the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan.
MARIO DE SIMONI
President, Scuderie Del Quirinale
“This exhibition investigates who Leonardo Da Vinci was, as an engineer, a humanist, and you could say as a scientist; though methodologically it is not entirely correct to say so. Above all, it focuses on the major theme of the unity of knowledge, because, for Leonardo, even drawing and painting were science.”
The exhibition brings together items from a variety of museum collections across Italy and Europe. The artifacts are curated in a way that guides the visitor through Da Vinci's lifetime of exploration in creative and scientific fields.
MATTEO LAFRANCONI
Director, Scuderie Del Quirinale
“They allow us to understand how, from a very young age, Leonardo was very attentive, not only to the creative processes, but also to the realization processes and to all the tools to put them into practice.”
Many books and codex of contemporary thinkers have been found with annotations by Da Vinci inside them. Using these pieces, curators even recreated Da Vinci's library as part of the exhibition.
This program runs through June 30 and is sure to give visitors an in-depth view into Da Vinci's life and legacy 500 years after his death.
