Monday, July 06, 2009

Da Vinci Exhibition

Although nature commences with reason and ends in experience it is necessary for us to do the opposite, that is to commence with experience and from this to proceed to investigate the reason.

- Leonardo da Vinci

After hiding in my hermit shell for so long, I was finally up and about and getting in touch with activities in Singapore.

My second visit to the Science Centre this year (and for the past decade or so) was to the Da Vinci Exhibition. I was attracted to this exhibition not by my prior knowledge of his marvellous achievements, but merely by the great name of Leonardo Da Vinci and his close association with Dan Brown's novels. My agenda of going for the exhibition was only to take a good look at the (photographed) paintings featured in novels and movie.

Despite so, I learnt a lot more about this great 'inventor, artist, scientist, engineer, sculptor, anatomist, biologist, musician, architect, philosopher'; indeed a genius. Even more unbelievable was that he achieved all that without any formal education!!

Some of the works that I was intrigued in were the true colours of Mona Lisa and the Last Supper; his version of parachute, helicopter and other flying devices (bearing in mind that the idea of flying was foreign and unrealistic at that time). For SY, it would definitely be the musical instruments that he invented such as the portable piano that can produce 8 octaves and the mobile drum that produces multiple tones.

All in all, this exhibition which showcased all his works with copies of his transcript, models constructed to scale, videos to proof that some of his inventions actually do work and a biography of his entire life; was not only an eye-opener, but very inspirational as well.

Yet, both SY and I agreed that the existance of such all-rounded genius is, in fact, quite unbelievable. :)

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SpilLeD by b|uE at 1:58:00 am