A glimpse of Da Vinci The Genius

Inventor. Anatomist. Aquat- ic engineer. Musician. Military architect. Father of Flight. Painter. Sculptor. Philosopher. And Renaissance Man. This could only be used to de- scribe Leonardo Da Vinci, the greatest genius of all time. He is a most powerful example of what the human mind is capable of.

Da Vinci – The Genius at The Mind Museum in Taguig City is the world’s most compre- hensive traveling exhibition on Da Vinci in Manila ongoing until Nov 30. It is presented in collaboration with Grande Exhibitions Australia, Anthropos Association Italy, in cooperation with Commune di Roma, Commune di Firenze, Citta Di Venezia and Pascal Cotte of Lumiere Technologies, France.

Since the master’s original works are much too fragile to be moved from the museums where they are permanently housed, the mentioned present- ers thought of the next best thing. And that is the only Leonardo Da Vinci Traveling Exhibition avail- able in the world offering the most comprehensive look, analysis and interaction with Da Vinci’s works created with the assistance of Leonardo da Vinci experts in Italy and France. The exhibition features 13 compelling themed areas of Da Vinci’s work, offering visitors a look inside the mind of the genius behind such inventions as the helicop- ter, airplane, automobile, submarine, parachute and bicycle.

Many exhibits are interactive and can be pushed, pulled and touched like the three-dimensional inter- active presentations of The Last Supper, the Vitruvian Man and the Sforza Horse sculpture. Da Vinci’s mys- terious alphabet and writing techniques are opened to the public who can browse touchscreen versions of his actual codices. We also saw reproductions of Virgin of the Rocks and The Annunciation, the controversial new Da Vinci discovery Bella Principessa, anatomical sketches, preparatory drawings of the Anghiari Battle.

Da Vinci – The Genius gathers together more than 200 pieces of paintings, war machines, flying machines and his notebooks under the sub-title of Grande Exhibitions’ Da Vinci – The Genius with the assistance of Il Genio di Leonardo da Vinci Museo (Italy) and Pascal Cotte of Lumiere Tech- nology (France). Working from Da Vinci’s codices, Italian artisans have faithfully crafted interactive and life-size machine inventions. These works include the first concepts of a car, bicy- cle, helicopter, glider, parachute, SCUBA, submarine, military tank and ideal city, to name a few.

The exhibit moves far beyond machine inventions alone, featuring facsimiles of Da Vinci’s most famous codices, anatomical studies, Anghiari battle drawings and Renaissance art.

A recent addition is the high definition re-creation of The Last Supper at actual size (29 x 14.5-ft) an impressive display that complements high-definition video animations explaining the Sforza Horse, Mona Lisa and Vitruvian Man.

The exhibit also includes the world exclusive Secrets of Mona Lisa — a Louvre Museum-sanctioned analysis of the iconic painting, by renowned scien- tific engineer, examiner and photographer of fine art, Pascal Cotte.

Suitable for all ages, this amazing exhibition pro- vides a fascinating insight into not only the mind of a genius, but also into the fundamental scientific and artistic principles that he discovered. Da Vinci – The Genius is an inspiration for the whole family.

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