- Title: Da Vinci machines brought to life in Bruges exhibition
- Date: 31st May 2017
- Summary: BRUGES, BELGIUM (MAY 30, 2017) (REUTERS) BIRD-LIKE HUMAN FLYING MACHINE DESIGNED BY LEONARDO DA VINCI / OTHER MACHINES, INSIDE EXHIBITION PRIMITIVE HELICOPTER MACHINE EXHIBITION, ARTWORK ON WALL, BOOK DISPLAYED VARIOUS OF COPY OF SELF-PORTRAIT SKETCH OF LEONARDO DA VINCI MONA LISA SECTION, SELF-PORTRAIT OF DA VINCI PRINT COPY OF DA VINCI'S 'MONA LISA' COPY OF THE MONA LISA, OTHER PAINTING COPIES VARIOUS OF COPY OF 'L'UOMO VITRUVIANO' (VITRUVIAN MAN) SKETCH BRIDGE MODEL INSIDE EXHIBITION / OTHER MODELS AND EXPLANATORY BOARDS BRIDGE MODEL, POLE WITH STRING CRANE DEVICE MODEL, LARGE BOARDS WITH DA VINCI'S BLUEPRINTS AND WRITING PULLEYS EXHIBITION CURATOR SPEAKING ABOUT EXHIBITION JOURNALISTS STOOD LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) EXHIBITION TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, VINCENT DAMSEAUX, SAYING: "This is the world's biggest exhibition that has been proposed until now. It makes it so great because you have such a big collection of works of da Vinci. Not only works but also codex, paintings and original documents of da Vinci but also people who were living at the same time as da Vinci: Albrecht Duerer, Michelangelo, and others." MODELS OF BOATS WITH PEDALS TV ANIMATION SHOWING BOAT OPERATED BY PEDALS WORKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) EXHIBITION TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, VINCENT DAMSEAUX, SAYING: "The highlight of this exhibition is principally the quantity of works that are presented, covering a big variety of instruments, machines, war machines, and other objects in the same place." DARKENED ROOM WITH ANTONIO NUNZIANTE ARTWORK, A 20TH-21ST CENTURY ARTIST WHO ADHERES TO DA VINCI'S STYLE VARIOUS OF NUNZIANTE'S "THE EYE" 2017 PAINTINGS BY NUNZIANTE (SOUNDBITE) (English) EXHIBITION TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, VINCENT DAMSEAUX, SAYING: "What is incredible is something that... you see the technique he was designing [with] in that period and you still find a correlation with what you have today. If I were taking, for example, simply the gear box that is something you'll find on your bikes today - but it was invented at that time already." VARIOUS OF DA VINCI'S WRITING IN DISPLAY CABINET REFLECTION OF MODEL OF MAN PARACHUTING ON WRITING PARCHMENT / WOODEN MAN ITSELF PARACHUTE AND WOODEN MAN PORTABLE WOODEN BRIDGE, FULL-SIZE MODEL, OUTSIDE IN COURTYARD DA VINCI EXHIBITION POSTERS AT ENTRANCE PASSAGEWAY, PLAIN SIGN POINTING TO EXHIBITION BOAT GOING ALONG CANAL TOURISTS AND PUBLIC ON STREET BUSY PEDESTRIANISED STREET VARIOUS OF BRUGES TOWN HALL IN THE MARKET SQUARE, BRUGES FLAGS
- Embargoed: 14th June 2017 09:34
- Keywords: Leonardo Da Vinci machines exhibition inventions
- Location: BRUGES, BELGIUM
- City: BRUGES, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Human Interest / Brights / Odd News
- Reuters ID: LVA0016J65AVT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Leonardo da Vinci's designs of a bird-like human aeroplane and portable bridge have been brought to life in a new exhibition launching on Thursday (June 1) in the Belgian city of Bruges.
Though the drawings by the famed painter have been turned into three-dimensional reality before, organisers say this is the biggest exhibition of its kind.
For the first time, 100 machines invented or enhanced by the acclaimed Italian Renaissance-era mastermind have been realised using plans he drew himself.
A few of the 500-year-old designs, such as the bird-like human aeroplane, were created at life-size scale. Others are scale models made of wood, wire and other materials of the age.
Leonardo da Vinci's designs were varied and pioneering. Though he was not the first to conceive some of them, he made significant improvements.
Weaponry was a common theme in his work, with bladed war contraptions envisaged, as well as a helicopter, plane, submarine and bridges way before they became mainstream. From as early as the late 15th century, he developed advanced concepts in civil engineering, hydro-dynamics, optics, and anatomy.
"What is incredible is something that... you see the technique he was designing [with] in that period and you still find a correlation with what you have today. If I were taking, for example, simply the gear box, that is something you'll find on your bikes today - but it was invented at that time already," the exhibition's Luxembourgian technical designer, Vincent Damseaux, told Reuters Television.
Visitors to the XPO Center will be able to activate some of the devices and will also be treated to Da Vinci's codex writings, and a copy of the Mona Lisa and of ouevres by contemporaries like Michelangelo and Raphael.
Works by modern Italian painter Antonio Nunziante, an artist who strictly employs da Vinci's methods, are also on display.
Belgian Jean-Christophe Hubert oversaw the exhibition's artistic direction, after his work for "Leonardo da Vinci, the European Genius" in Brussels drew 350,000 visitors between 2007 and 2008.
After a half-year stint in Bruges, the exhibition moves to Istanbul, then Dubai, and then will go on six-month-long stops across Asia and the United States. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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