Leonardo Da Vinci's Mechanical Lion
Last edited Tue Nov 5, 2019, 08:57 AM - Edit history (1)
'Leonardo da Vinci's mechanical lion goes on display in Paris,' physorg,*Sept. 12, 2019.
Leonardo da Vinci's famous mechanical lion on Wednesday went on display in Paris for a month, in a tribute to the Renaissance master 500 years after his death. The lion, which is two metres (six feet, seven inches) high and three metres long and made of wood with a metal mechanism, is a reconstruction based on a rudimentary sketch left by da Vinci.
The original automaton, long since lost, was designed by da Vinci on a commission from Pope Leo X to amuse French king Francois I. Da Vinci, who died in May 1519, had a legendary obsession with the flight of birds and how understanding the mechanism could lead to the creation of a human flying machine. The lion is on display at the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris.
- Major Rome exhibition to celebrate Leonardo da Vinci
https://phys.org/news/2019-03-major-rome-celebrate-leonardo-da.html
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-leonardo-da-vinci-mechanical-lion.html
*A compartment in the lion opened up to present the King lily flowers, the 'fleur de lis' symbol of France.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur-de-lis
King Francis I of France, Patron of the Arts & Humanities, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_I_of_France
*WATCH*
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Last edited Tue Nov 5, 2019, 11:45 AM - Edit history (1)
You cannot visit the town of Amboise and its impressive chateau without also visiting nearby Clos-luce, where you will learn, in a well presented indoor and outdoor exhibition, of the last years of Leonardo de Vinci (1516-1519) surprisingly spent here in Amboise in the Loire Valley.
Shortly after his patron Giuliano died in 1516, Leonardo had been enticed here by the arts loving Francois I with the promise of a pension and comfortable residence. Few demands were puton him other than to be available for intellectual conversation, otherwise he was ”free to think, dream and work”. Leonardo had crossed the Alps on a mule carrying with him some of his precious artwork including the Mona Lisa – which explains why it hangs in Paris and not Rome...
"Art is never finished, only abandoned." Leonardo de Vinci
Read More, https://www.experienceloire.com/clos-luce.htm
Portrait of Leonardo in later life.