In this 2019, Italy celebrates 500 years after Leonardo Da Vinci’s death. In the whole country, a lot of events dedicated to his art and genius keep taking place, in particular in the cities where he had lived and worked like Milan, Florence, Venice or Rome.
Many of these events set a light on the less known aspects of the great artist, not just the famous Cenacolo (The Last Supper), but also engineering works like the Navigli navigation system.
Not everyone knows that Leonardo’s eclectism was connected to the theatre, as brilliant stage designer or to the gastonomic and banqueting fields, linked to him were, in fact, the very first experiments of nouvelle cousine and the use of napkins during suppers. Leonardo was a visionary and every event that celebrates him underlines a single aspect of his brilliant mind.
Milan is, without any doubt, the city that dedicated to him the biggest number of events. Here he had spent 20 years as an adult, between 1484 and 1512, at Ludovico il Moro’s court, contributing to make it even more beautiful and cultivated. On May the 16th the Sala delle Asse inside the Sforzesco Castle will be open after the repairs; here people will admire many drawings of Leonardo also thanks to a multimedia installation. Until January the 12th this castle will host a multimedia path dedicated to the Leonardo’s age Milan.
Still in Milan, until June 23rd, Palazzo Reale will host two expositions about “The mervellous world of nature before and after Leonardo” and from October 7th until January 2020 a precious arras of silk and silver, just repaired, will be shown and that is the copy of the Cenacolo. It was made between 1505 and 1510. The Cenacolo is also the theme organized at the Fondazione Stelline until June 30th and that investigates Leonardo’s influence on modern artists.
At the Science and Technology Museum , until October 13th, the Leonardo Da Vinci’s Parade will be taken to show 52 historical models of Leonardo and 29 frescos of artists from Lombardy of 1500.
At the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana there will be 4 exhibitions that illustrates sections of papers from the famous Codice Atlantico (Atlantic Code), while in fall, Palazzo Litta, where Leonardo had lived, will host an exhibition that shows how the neighborhood was at that time.
Finally, the San Siro racecource will host, from May to November, a celebrative exposition with the famous reproductions of Leonardo’s horse. Then the horses will be postioned in different parts of Milan and could be traced with an app.
Florence, Leonardo’s city, was the first one to celebrate him already starting from last year. At Palazzo Strozzi an exhibition about “Verrocchio, Leonardo’s teacher”will start and it will last until July 14th, with drawings and studies by Leonardo and also works by Botticelli, Perugino and Ghirlandaio.
Palazzo Vecchio hosts, until June 24th, the exhibition called “Leonardo and Florence” and Santa Maria Novella, from September 13th to December 15th, the exposition called “Leonardo Da Vinci e la botanica”.
Also Venice celebrates Leonardo event with an exposition at the Gallerie dell’Accademia called ” Leonardo Da Vinci. L’uomo modello del mondo” that also comprehends the famous drawing of the Uomo Vitruviano.
Finally Rome dedicates to the great artist an important exhibition about his tecnologic and scientific genius “Leonardo da Vinci. The science before the science”, at the Scuderie del Quirinale, inside the palace of the Italian Republic President. Here the public can admire the drawings of war machines, machines for flying, for working and producting.
Naturally, these are only the main events in this long year dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci’s genius 500 years after his death. The famous touristic guide Condé Nast Johansens points out the ones not to be missed in every city togheter with the affiliated hotels.