A man way ahead of his time

Da Vinci's designs, such as this mechanical wing, are on show

The Italian was active in the arts, sciences, mathematics and the esoteric; no human endeavour was beyond the sweep of his genius, no dream beyond the realm of realisation. Painting the Last Supper, the Mona Lisa, designing a canal system for Milan, fortifications for Carcassone or hundreds of other works, still visible, have been enough to keep Leonardo da Vinci’s legend alive across the centuries.

Yet the Renaissance genius dreamed of much more: he knew that man would fly and explore the sea. Aeroplanes, helicopters and diving suits are only a few of the 2,000 designs recorded in his notebooks. An important collection of them, some 1,200, were preserved in the Codex Atlanticus, a name chosen by an admirer who believed they resembled the geographic Atlantis of the Renaissance.

Now, thanks to the efforts of the Monaco Dante Alighieri Association and the Monaco-Italy Association, a significant selection of pages from the first edition of the Codex, along with models, have been lent by Italy’s Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei for exhibition in the Grimaldi Forum from 1st to 24th of September.

Visiting hours for the public are 10am-8pm and 10pm on Thursdays, until the 9th September. Entry is 8 euros; a double ticket that includes a visit to the Kyoto-Tokyo exhibition is available for 15 euros for the duration of the Japanese expo.

Tel: +377 99 99 30 00

LB