For the five hundredth anniversary of the death of the Genius par excellence, the MUMEC Museo dei Mezzi di Comunicazione (Communications Museum), in the historic centre of Arezzo, organised the Leonardian Celebrations as part of the ‘Leonardo’s Tuscany’ project sponsored by the region of Tuscany.
Last August saw the inauguration of ‘Strumenti scientifici ed orologeria nei codici di Leonardo’ (Scientific Instruments and Watchmaking in the Codes of Leonardo), an exhibition hosted in the museum rooms of MUMEC, coming from years of study and research into the Leonardian Codes, such as Foster, Hammer, Atlantic and others, concerning scientific investigations and more specifically to scientific instrumentation.
The exhibition is divided into sections and ranges from ancient watchmaking, with reference to the monumental clock of the Palazzo della Fraternita dei Laici in Arezzo, to astronomy, as well as mathematics and measurement. The scientific instruments, part of the Fausto Casi Collection (who is the curator of MUMEC), are flanked by authentic reproductions of the Leonardian Codes, made available for the occasion by the Aretine collector, Luciano Chiari.
‘Leonardo da Vinci in De Divina Proportione’ was the first of the exhibitions to open its doors to the public last April. “It seemed an interesting occasion to propose some cultural aspects of Leonardo that could specifically relate to the region of Arezzo during the celebrations for the five hundredth anniversary of his death (1519-2019)” explains Fausto Casi, curator of the exhibition. “The idea was to promote artistic research on the 60 drawings made by the great Florentine genius to illustrate the famous De Divina Proportione (1498) book by mathematician Luca Pacioli (his Tuscan compatriot whom Leonardo met in Milan at the court of Ludovico the Moor)”.
Extraordinary geometric figures complete the works on the applications of the golden section of the Franciscan friar of Borgo San Sepolcro, thus becoming the subject of new studies and analysis. Each image was ideally broken down and recalculated by the mathematician Bruno Bruni of Arezzo so that it was possible to create a three-dimensional form in cherry wood. The result exceeded all expectations: objects that could be considered pieces of contemporary art, whilst paying tribute to designs from five centuries ago, took shape.
The Second Act of Arezzo’s Leonardian Celebrations of Arezzo organised by MUMEC, is the exhibition set up at the headquarters of the Petrarca Academy of Letters, Arts and Sciences in Arezzo, entitled ‘Il Prospettografo di Leonardo’ (Leonardo’s Perspectograph), which features the instrument designed, described and actually used by him to create the sixty drawings contained in the work De Divina Proportione by Fra’ Luca Pacioli. This, like all the project’s exhibitions, can be visited until 3 November 2019.
by Claudia Chiari