In celebration of the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, the Uffizi Galleries and the Museo Galileo are teaming up to present the exhibition, The Codex Leicester. Water, Nature’s Microscope, curated by the Museo Galileo’s director Paolo Galluzzi.
The event is expected to be one of many throughout the world in honour of the Renaissance genius, who died on May 2nd, 1519, and the organizers certainly aren’t holding back. With an exceptional loan from Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and current owner of the Codex since 1994, the manuscript will go on display in the Aula Magliabechiana inside the Uffizi Gallery from October 29th, 2018 to January 20th, 2019.
The Codex Leicester is an incredible piece of history, which stands as a testament to the creative and inquisitive mind of da Vinci. Written between 1504 and 1508, the manuscript is a notebook of sorts, used by da Vinci to jot down his notes and drawings of his scientific experiments and inquiries into matters such as geology, mechanics and astronomy. It is the theme of water, however, that sits at the center of the codex, with immense observations regarding its movements, its reaction to obstacles and the destruction the element can cause. Accompanying the manuscript will be the Codescope, an innovative multimedia device that will allow visitors to “leaf” through the pages of the text, read transcriptions and learn about the myriad of themes Leonardo explored in the book.
Alongside the Codex Leicester, the exhibition will showcase other extraordinary drawings by Leonardo that were executed around the same time as the manuscript, on loan from national and international institutions, offering a comprehensive overview of the flourishing period of creativity in Florence in the early 16th century, where advancements were constantly being made in fields such as literature, the arts and science.
