[Figure 1] Me Outside the Science Center
This Monday I took a trip to the California Science Center and visited the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit. I didn’t do much research on the exhibition beforehand because I wanted to be surprised.
First entering, we were welcomed with a brief biography and video about Da Vinci. Around the corner, there was a surplus amount of Da Vinci’s inventions and work beautifully replicated by contemporary Italian artisans.
I was amazed and noticed many of Da Vinci’s inventions that I was familiar with. Like the “Mechanical Bat”, the “Great Kite”, “Mechanical Dragon Fly”, and what I thought to be one of the coolest inventions, the “Aerial Screw”. Replicas of Da Vinci’s artworks were also displayed alongside the walls and could be digitally interacted with. There was a giant display of the “Last Supper” and on the digital display, I was able to view the “Baptism of Christ”, “Bacchus”, and of course, the “Mona Lisa”.
[Figure 2] Da Vinci's Flying Mechanisms
Further into the exhibition, I saw inventions that I didn’t know Da Vinci dabbled into such as instruments and weapons. Instruments that were featured were a “Stretch Drum” and the “Great Organ” which both had recordings of people demonstrating how to play them and the beautiful sounds they made. The weapons I saw looked like they were used as decoys and defense mechanisms and could fatally damage. Some of my favorites were the “Robot-Soldier”, “Triple Machine Gun”, “Rapid-fire Crossbow”, and the “Multi-Cannon Gunship”.
In class, when we looked at how math influenced technology and art, Da Vinci was one of the main influencers who helped develop further into fractals and proportions. Looking at the models in the exhibition I could visualize seeing the fractals while looking at the Mona Lisa. Another creation that Da Vinci made that tied into the lesson: was the “Mazzocchio”, a geometric study consisting of 32 octagonal sections.
[Figure 3] Da Vinci's Mazzocchino
I took plenty of pictures of everything and it felt like I was truly experiencing these inventions in the era they were created because they were so realistic to the original. I enjoyed walking through the exhibition. Even though I thought I knew everything about Da Vinci, there were lots of things that I just now discovered. Everything on display has a description of its uses, importance, and era in both English and Spanish. The exhibition will be on display until September 2, 2024, and I highly recommend attending when on some downtime.
References
Leonardo Da Vinci: Inventor. Artist. Dreamer. | The California Science Center, californiasciencecenter.org/exhibits/leonardo-da-vinci-inventor-artist-dreamer. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
“Leonardo Da Vinci: Inventor. Artist. Dreamer.” ..., californiasciencecenter.org/press-room/pressrelease/2024-02-22/leonardo-da-vinci-inventor-artist-dreamer-exhibition-to-open-at/. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
“Leonardo Da Vinci.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 23 Apr. 2024, www.britannica.com/biography/Leonardo-da-Vinci.
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