The year of Leonardo da Vinci started with the Ambrosiana

The year of Leonardo da Vinci started with the Ambrosiana
The year of Leonardo da Vinci started with the Ambrosiana

The secrets of the Atlantic Code. Leonardo at the Ambrosiana
First part
Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana - Until March 17, 2019

The celebrations for the year of Leonardo at the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana have already begun last year. To be exact on December 18, 2018 with an exciting exhibition itinerary, which will last throughout 2019, in a crescendo of very interesting initiatives.
The first stage of this compelling long-term exhibition is the The Secrets of the Atlantic Code. Leonardo all'Ambrosiana focused on the precious sheets that preserve the most fascinating drawings that the genius elaborated with the artistic expertise that is universally recognized.

The Codex Atlanticus arrived at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in 1637 as a gift from Count Galeazzo Arconati, an exponent of the best Milanese aristocracy. This is an amazing collection of 1119 autograph sheets for a total of about 1750 drawings. The name "atlantic" does not indicate the content of the code, but the format of the large pages (which were normally used to make atlases) on which the sheets were glued to better preserve them and protect them from possible dispersions.

The Codex Atlanticus is the most important and complete Leonardian collection in the world; in it are mixed all the disciplines cultivated by the great genius of Vinci from the young years until just before death: architecture and plumbing, medicine and optics, mechanics and urban planning, geometry and the astronomy, anatomy and the various visual arts. Noteworthy are the projects of self-propelled machines, of increasingly sophisticated weapons, of gears and devices, of which Leonardo has left wonderful designs that often become real works of art.

Here are the dates of the next stages.
The second part - from March 19 to June 16, 2019 - will propose some projects for war machines, but will focus in particular on civil engineering studies: hydraulic devices, rope machines, for textile activities, for the production of instruments mechanical, punching machines and automatic roasters.

The third review, Leonardo in France. Drawings of the French period from the Codex Atlanticus, from 18 June to 15 September 2019, edited by Pietro C. Marani, will deepen the last years of the master's activity, through a selection of 23 sheets from the Atlantic Codex datable to the French stay of Leonardo, at the court of Francesco I.

Leonardo's year at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana ends with the exhibition Leonardo and his legacy: the artists and the techniques, curated by Benedetta Spadaccini, scheduled from 17 September 2018 to 12 January 2020, dedicated to the drawings made by Leonardo and the artists of his circle.

francesca marotta

 

Francesca Marotta: giornalista di moda e beauty, curiosa, sognatrice, anticonformista. Amo l’Italia, l’arte, le esperienze, gli stili di vita, il design... da wow!