THE MUSEUM AND LEONARDO DA VINCI 27th June 2014. The National Museum of Science and Technology “Leonardo da Vinci” opened on the 15th of February 1953. The Museum was created thanks to a group of Lombard entrepreneurs led by Guido Ucelli di Nemi and supported by public institutions. Today it is a private Foundation whose institutional associates include ministries, public administrations and Milanese universities. The Museum is hosted in an early sixteenth century Olivetan monastery in the heart of Milan. With its 50,000 sqm surface it is currently the largest science and technology museum in Italy.

The name of Leonardo da Vinci has accompanied the Museum since its opening, which featured a major exhibition that celebrated the fifth centenary of Da Vinci’s birth. Leonardo Da Vinci was, and still is, a symbol of the continuity between the culture of art and that of science and technology, two different but complementary expressions of human creativity. Da Vinci also represents an extremely modern example of the presence of curiosity, research and human progress in the full respect of that Nature of which Man is a part.

The Museum houses the largest collection in the world of models created from the interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings. They were built in the 1950s and they organically represent his scientific and technical studies. These models play an exceptional role in the study and dissemination of Leonardo Da Vinci’s work. They are unique as to their educational significance and highly valuable for their craftsmanship quality. A selection of models is permanently exhibited in the Leonardo Gallery at the Museum.

The Museum works on developing interpretation tools related to this important collection. Among these is the interactive lab where visitors can test and understand the function of machines drawn by Leonardo da Vinci as well as experiment with artistic techniques of the Renaissance. A more in-depth view of the relationship between Leonardo da Vinci and Milan emerges from multimedia and 3D animations such as the project "Leonardo and the construction of the Cathedral", conducted in collaboration with IRIS and the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo, and the recent iPhone and iPad app LeonardoAround, available in Italian and English, with maps and tours that invite visitors to experience the Milanese sites linked to Leonardo da Vinci. The history of the collection and the catalogue of the historical models are also included in the book "Leonardo da Vinci: the models collection", published by the Museum in 2009 – available in Italian and English.

EXHIBITIONS BY THE MUSEUM

“Leonardo da Vinci. Flexible thinking”, Energimuseet, Bjerringbro – Denmark until October 31, 2014 An exhibition - curated by the National Museum of Science and Technology - that explores the many interests of the engineer and technologist Leonardo da Vinci. The exhibition features 39 historic models from the collection of the Museum divided into two main sections, an interactive workshop, and an open air trail in the museum’s large park. The exhibition focuses on the relationship between nature, art, technology and science in Da Vinci’s life and work. In fact, the observation of nature and the work of his contemporaries played a significant role in his studies. Visitors can explore the method behind Da Vinci’s work, which today we would call “flexible thinking”. The main themes of the exhibition are related to a crucial period in Da Vinci’s education: the years spent in Milan. Here, his studies on engineering shifted from a practical approach to a more intellectual one. These studies integrated theory and experimentation, tradition and innovation, enabling Da Vinci to develop a new way of representing technology.

1 The exhibition presents, in two different buildings of the Energimuseet, 39 historical models and plaster casts from the Museum collection, all created in the 1950s and deriving from the study and interpretation of Da Vinci’s drawings. The exhibition also includes a workshop area for interactive activities in which school groups and other visitors can participate in two different workshops designed by the Museum: one allows visitors to engage with a number of large models of machines designed by Da Vinci; the other involves participants in the experimentation of the Renaissance fresco technique. Finally, a tour in the park of the museum illustrates Leonardo's studies on nature.

"Léonard de Vinci, projets, dessins, machines" Cité des sciences et de l'industrie - Paris October 23, 2012 - August 18, 2013 A historical and interactive exhibition on Leonardo Da Vinci as engineer and interpreter of nature. Designed by Universcience in collaboration with the National Museum of Science and Technology and the Deutsches Museum. The museum presents 40 historical models from its collection. The exhibition was last in Paris, attracting 275,500 visitors and thus becoming the third most visited exhibition ever at the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie among exhibitions with a separate ticket.

The exhibition "Leonardo da Vinci: Vorbild Natur - Zeichnungen und Modelle" is at the Deutsches Museum in Munich until August 3, 2014. From October 2014 until April 2015, the exhibition will be at Ruth Cardoso Exhibition Center in Sao Paulo and from October 2015 to April 2016 at the Science Museum in London.

For these international exhibitions museum professionals worked for the restoration of many models that had not been exhibited for years. The aim was to value this historic heritage in the future prospect of being able to exhibit these objects at the Museum (by way of example: the two major models of teaseling machines made by Giovanni Strobino in 1953; the 11 plaster casts of the Frieze of the Art of War by Francesco di Giorgio Martini, made in Urbino in 1961; the great hydraulic fan built in 1956).

"Leonardo da Vinci. Nature, art & science "Incheon, South Korea September 2009 - May 2010. The exhibition "Leonardo da Vinci. Nature, Art & Science" was conceived and designed by the museum in collaboration with the Atelier Mendini for the Milan Design City Exhibition Center in the Korean sector of the Milan Triennale. The exhibition, describing the close connection between the scientific and artistic research work of Leonardo Da Vinci, had the aim of presenting the roots of the Italian cultural heritage to the Korean public.

EXHIBITION COLLABORATIONS "Leonardo 1452 - 1519" from April 15, 2015, Palazzo Reale - Milan The National Museum of Science and Technology will lend 3 historical models of machines (the propelling cart, the mallet beater and the power loom) based on the interpretation of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci. The exhibition is sponsored by the City of Milan, conceived and designed by Palazzo Reale and Skira and curated by Peter C. Marani and Maria Teresa Fiorio.

"Leonardo da Vinci and the Ideal City", Expo Shanghai 2010 On the occasion of the Shanghai World Expo 2010, the Museum was invited by the Shanghai National Museum to curate the section "Leonardo and the ideal city of the Renaissance" within the exhibition “Ideal City” on the history of urban civilization at the Urban Footprint Pavilion. The Museum participated as the only Italian museum. The Pavilion received more than 4 and a half million visitors.

Leonardo's Workshop Caravan, Japan in 2009, 2013, 2014 Since 2009, the Museum takes part in "Leonardo's Workshop Caravan", an event organized by the Leonardo da Vinci Network, a committee created to promote the creation of a museum dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci in Osaka, Japan, in collaboration with the Museum.

2 International Expo Zaragoza 2008 The Museum participated in the Italian Pavilion with an exhibition of historic models from its collection, describing the relationship between Leonardo da Vinci and water, with a specific focus on water ways.

PRESS OFFICE National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci of Milan Deborah Chiodoni - Paola Cuneo T +39 02 48555 343 / 450 C +39 339 1536030 [email protected] www.museoscienza.org

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR VISITORS National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci of Milan Via San Vittore 21 - 20123 Milano www.museoscienza.org | [email protected] | T 02 48 555 1

PRESS MATERIAL Photos, videoclips and Italian press releases available at: http://www.museoscienza.org/areastampa

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