On April 13, crowds gathered to welcome 'Leonardo da Vinci: Man, Inventor, Genius' to the Museum of Science and Industry, a new exhibit on the quintessential Renaissance man.
'There's a lot of buzz about Leonardo da Vinci these days,' said museum president David Mosena. 'It certainly doesn't hurt to have your name on a book' like The Da Vinci Code, which has sold over seven million copies.
Mosena said the exhibit was planned independent of the Da Vinci Code hype. 'We chose to do this because da Vinci embodies the vision of the museum,' he said. 'He inspires us … to improve the world in which we live.'
The exhibit features more than sixty custom-built wooden models of da Vinci's creations, including prototypes of the hang glider, parachute and escalator. In 'Leonardo's Workshop', visitors can launch two giant catapults, walk inside a larger-than-life pinhole camera, and view 'The Theatre Sheet', a da Vinci sketch never before exhibited in the U.S. The exhibit concludes with examples of 'modern-day Leonardos' like robotics engineer James McLurkin and mathematician Fern Hart.
'In my opinion, my estimation, this is one of the best' exhibits on da Vinci, said scholar Carlo Pedretti. As director of the Armand Hammer Center for Leonardo Studies at UCLA, Pedretti has seen dozens of such exhibits worldwide. 'It relates Leonardo to our culture, to our technology.'
'Leonardo da Vinci: Man, Inventor, Genius' also explores myths about da Vinci's life and work, including his penchant for writing backwards and buying caged birds in order to release them.
Absent from the exhibit, however, is any mention of da Vinci's disputed sexuality. As a young man, da Vinci was twice accused of sodomy. Although sodomy trials were often politically motivated, and da Vinci denied the charges, his lifelong bachelorhood and succession of attractive boy apprentices have fueled speculation.
'We chose to focus on da Vinci's inventiveness,' said Mosena. 'There's lots of aspects of his life we don't go into.'
The exhibit, which will run until September 4, 2006, will be accompanied by a series of public events and lectures. On Saturday, April 15, seven of Chicago's best pastry chefs will bake – and share - cakes in honor of da Vinci's 554th birthday. From April 21 -30, the work of 25 semifinalists in the 'Modern Marvels: Invent Now Challenge' will be on display, and on Thursday, May 11, da Vinci expert Mario Taddei will lecture on 'Decoding the Da Vinci Code.'
'Leonardo da Vinci: Man, Inventor, Genius' is supported by General Electric and NBC-5. More information on the exhibit is available online at www.msichicago.org .