Italy > Sicily

Posted on 29/03/2010

The Arsenal Museum of the Sea of Palermo in collaboration with the Foundation in Palermo Anthropos presents the spectacular exhibition The Genius of Leonardo da Vinci exhibition of working machines and inventions, designs and projects drawn from the Tuscan master.
For the first time are displayed life-sized models, made by faithfully following the instructions contained in the projects and designs of Leonardo's Codice Atlantico and Madrid, from the beginning of the sixteenth century. Projects range in different fields: from physics to mechanics, from anatomy to astronomy, as far as the war machines and studies on the flight, which are always at the forefront in the research of Leonardo.
The exhibition begins with the presentation of a portable piano, built into the project included in the Atlantic Codex, which Leonardo describes as "a tool to wear during the parade in procession, to be played like a piano, but with a sound similar to that the violin, as produced by natural fiber ropes.
In the first room of the exhibition shows a series of mechanical devices that Leonardo has developed during his studies on the laws of physics and motion of bodies, it is machines that use kinetic energy to perform work or to transform the bike energy itself. The most important are the "worm", an helical gear comprising a toothed wheel used to transmit rotary motion, the cranes ring, used for moving the weights in both horizontal and vertical direction, similar to that already used by Brunelleschi to build the dome of Florence Cathedral.
As part of the war machines, are worthy of note wagon cutter double hull double bottom (tool defense in case of naval battle), the paddle boat (powered pedal) and the covered wagon to assault the walls .
Especially interesting is the room of mirrors, built on the basis of drawings in the Treaty of painting, the artist used to see an image reproduced countless times and from several points of observation. Leonardo himself down the mirror "master of painters".
With regard to studies on human physiology, are shown a toroidal shaped buoy, designed for floating human, and a diving bell, with an apparatus for breathing underwater with an air bag equipped with valves that regulate the flow.
The section on flight includes an ancestor instead of the parachute, dated 1485, a anemoscope (instrument for measuring wind direction), a prototype hang glider, equipped with a rudder to adjust the direction of flight, and a study of wing flying, frame armed with a network card and the girders of the barrel.
Concludes the exhibition, the wooden model of an ideal city, designed by Leonardo in the late fifteenth century, which is on different levels connected by ramps and suspension bridges with running water facilities, which are considered of primary importance to ensure the hygiene urban environment, especially after the devastating plague of Milan in 1485.
The exhibition is open until the 15th April, at the following times: daily from 9.00 to 13.00 and from Friday to Sunday also from 19.00 to 23.00. Admission is free, with voluntary contributions.