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If you follow us on Instagram you know that my 10 year old and I went out for a date to the Arizona Science Center last weekend. We got to check out Da Vinci – The Genius. A bit about the exhibit:
Da Vinci – The Genius is the most comprehensive exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci to tour the world and brings to life the full range of his genius as an inventor, artist, scientist, anatomist, engineer, architect, sculptor and philosopher. Da Vinci – The Genius blends science, engineering, art and culture in an exploration of ten themed areas, including the world exclusive Secrets of Mona Lisa – a ground breaking analysis of Leonardo’s most famous painting. This amazing exhibition provides a fascinating insight into not only the mind of a genius; but also into the fundamental scientific and artistic principles that he discovered. Da Vinci – The Genius is an inspiration for the whole family.
We checked out his codices (little notebooks) first and were so interested in how he wrote (like a mirror as he was left handed) and how amazing his mind truly was. It also made me a little bit more lenient to all the notebooks lying around my house 😉
The exhibit has several areas with models of his inventions. What we thought was so cool was how some of his inventions were so far ahead of his time, there wasn’t a way to construct some of them yet.
Of course he loved the “ok to touch” signs. It is amazing how many different tools there were.
Da Vinci wasn’t allowed a formal education, instead he learned through the power of observation and experience.
It was cool to see how they went about finding out what The Mona Lisa’s original colors were and I got to share with him about when I saw The Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Hopefully some day I can take him!
If you’re in Phoenix Da Vinci – The Genius is an awesome exhibition that you’ll want to check out! It’s here until June 9, 2013.
Da Vinci – The Genius was created by Grande Exhibitions, with the assistance of the Anthropos Foundation, Italy, and Pascal Cotte, France. It is sponsored locally by JP Morgan Chase, The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com and located in the Sybil B. Harrington Galleries.
We couldn’t be at the AZ Science Center and not check out all the other fun spaces!
We had a great time and museums are one of the BEST ways to learn without it feeling like “work”. One of our favorite ways to spend time together too!
Disclosure: I was given passes to the AZ Science Center but all experiences, opinions, and photos are my own!
2 Comments
DaVinci is always one of my "what person, dead or alive, would you like to have a conversation/dinner with" choices. This looks like it was a great exhibit- wish I was closer to AZ! I was blown away several years ago when I was in the UK. I had the chance to go to Windsor Castle and there was a DaVinci exhibit there. A few of his journals were on display and they weren't behind anything but a small piece of acrylic that you could reach around if you were so minded. Of course I didn't but it was so tempting to be able to flip through one of DaVinci's books… I just didn't think I really wanted to deal with the consequences of doing so. 🙂
We saw the ads Vinci exhibit at the National Geographic museum in DC a couple of years ago. It is awesome. Cass has always been a huge fan of Da Vinci and she was just entranced.