Self-Portrait, Leonardo da Vinci: "Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to Authority is not using his intelligence, he is just using his memory."
Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment and Design opens today at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The exhibition continues through 7 June, 2007. Tickets are available by telephone at 44(0)870.906.3883 or online.
The exhibition focuses on Leonardo da Vinci's most complex and challenging designs on paper.
Behind the diversity are a series of unifying themes in Leonardo’s vision of how the world works. The dominant theme is the mathematical operation of nature's powers. Leonardo believed that every part of nature mirrors the action of the whole, with the human body of a “lesser world” – lesser in scale, but not in wonder and complexity. Leonardo saw that everything is related to everything else.
The exibition is divided into four areas:
The Mind’s Eye - For Leonardo, sight was the noblest and most certain sense. It provided access to “experience," which indicates how nature works, according to mathematical rules. Leonardo considered knowledge that could not be certified by the eye was unreliable.
The Lesser And Greater Worlds - The ancient theory of the microcosm and the macrocosm suggested the human body contained in miniature all the operations of the world and universe as a whole.
Making Things - Leonardo performed many roles and undertook several tasks for his court patrons. While he performed such duties with enthusiasm, they took him away from making paintings and sculpture, upon which he pinned his hopes for fame.
Force - Leonardo’s dynamic vision of the natural world was that force was necessary for anything to move. Motion gave life to all things, but also exercised a potential for destruction.
I'd like to see that exhibit!
Posted by: boliyou | 24 September 2006 at 18:33
That quote was so deep I had to have more coffee :) Profound! I hope you have your tickets so we can enjoy it through your eyes!
Posted by: Tammy | 15 September 2006 at 18:49
I like very much Leonard de Vinci. Mathématical opération of nature Power ix réally very interresting. If I go to London to see one of my frien before Christmas I'll go to see this Exposition Thanks my friend.
Claude XO
Posted by: claude | 15 September 2006 at 09:02
Wish I could visit that exhibit. There aren't many I would, but that one, ooohhhh!
Posted by: Rosa | 15 September 2006 at 02:08
uh-oh...now you have me thinking about a side trip to the exhibit :-)
with such a large window, i assume you will be attending the exhibit and taking beaucoup photos of whatever is legal!
i was just reading today that the V&A museum has a complete room of some sort designed by FL Wright so be certain to see it too if you havent already...vicarious traveling is the second best thing!
Posted by: susan | 14 September 2006 at 21:18
I saw a similar exhibition with Leonardo's work in Rome last summer. Amazingly what this man made!
Posted by: Britt-Arnhild | 14 September 2006 at 18:39
I adore the quote that you started this post out with!
Posted by: Deborah | 14 September 2006 at 18:31
Tara,
Leonardo da Vinci is one of, if not number one, my favorite individuals to study and reflect on. Thanks for bringing him to the fore, reminding me to visit him again.
Your Thurs. poem is right on the money again.
rel
Posted by: rel | 14 September 2006 at 11:13