Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibit!

Monday, May 20, 2019

We drove to Denver to explore the Leonardo DaVinci temporary exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. I had no idea how hands-on, tangible, magical, mystical, visceral it would be. Models of his inventions he sketched, some usable, some not. Catapults and bridge building. Art and self-portraits. Clothing designs. Music playing all throughout setting ambiance. Quotes on walls. Endless wonder.

Self-portrait

"Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first understood."

Francois. One of the two paid actors floating around the exhibit to add to the setting.

Yes, that's a giant crossbow.

Bridge building.

Catapults area.

"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned upward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."

And then Katie wanted to know if Francois spoke French. So we talked to him. Antonio, the second actor, joined in.

Francois serenaded us.

Thora made friends with Antonio by asking him questions. He was THRILLED to have engagement with a human. He explained to me that most of the attendees were adults (on a Monday at the end of the school year, yes) and they just gave him weird looks and skirted away. Thora attached to him and he just soaked it up!

Self-portrait studio

He loved watching her face light up with delight as he sketched her image!

Katie hung out here and talked with these two museum employees for 15-20 minutes.

Katie's art.

Sam's art.

Art lesson with Antonio. He was wonderful and a joy to watch how much fun he had with Thora. There were moments when I'd be helping one kid and Antonio would pop out around a corner and ask if it was okay that he take my other kids to a different section of the exhibit to show them something. Absolutely, friend! You have fun!

Katie loved the hands-on art!

More Sam art.

This lady was so impressed with and enjoyed her time with Katie so much. There's Katie's mannequin drawing.

Antonio explained that DaVinci loved to take pompous politicians, lawyers, educators, etc, put them in this 360 degree mirror box and close it. If you'll note, there's a hole in the exterior to the left where he'd peep and see the pompous arrogance melt away and he'd see them in their humanity. He was a master at speed sketching and would take their image without them knowing it.

Human anatomy sketches.

Clothing designs.

Vitruvian Man

Playing with inventions.

"You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself..."

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing,

Knowing is not enough; we must apply.

Being willing is not enough; we must do."

"Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation...even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind."

A whole room that unloaded some of the layers in this masterpiece. We looked through it briefly, but there was so much reading and with 5 kids after already nearly 2 hours of the exhibit, it just wasn't going to happen.

Feeding Lindsey lunch...

We also saw Antonio on his lunch break, invited him to join us. His real name is Brian and he's a middle school teacher who does some acting on the side.

Back upstairs from lunch, we saw Antonio/Brian redressed, returning to work, but he pulled us aside to show us one of the elves he had told us about downstairs. I just loved how full of wonder and excitement he was in showing us everything.

There's a little elf asleep in the grass just to the right of the knot on the tree trunk.