Leonardo da Vinci - The Man Who Wanted To Know Everything

I am not going to talk about Leonard da Vinci (1452-1519). I will leave that to scholars and historians.

I was at the Singapore Science Centre (SSC) on 24 Jun 09 for the Da Vinci The Genius Exhibition, with my cousin’s family. The Exhibition will be on till 16 Aug 09.

Exhibits include the analysis of two paintings, the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa, anatomical drawings, the codices (manuscript, notes and drawings), military models, and the famous Vitruvian Man. For details of exhibits, visit the official website. Do note that what you see at the official website are photos taken from exhibitions in other cities and thus not representative of the SSC.

I find the additional $15 entrance fee for an adult ($10 for a child), on top of the usual entrance fee, somewhat pricey. I think an adult entrance fee of perhaps $6 to $8 would probably commensurate with my experience there. Whilst I was fascinated by many of the exhibits, I didn’t get a sense of being overwhelmed or in awe. I think it is because, overall the Exhibition, was not extensive enough. The only extensive exhibit was the Mona Lisa – details replicate of each layers of the painting were produced, 25 secrets of the paintings were highlighted (though not the identity of who she was who or could have been), and a video clip of, I think, 10 to 15 minutes, which was played repeatedly. There was another, of equal duration, video clip playing on The Last Supper. As expected, you couldn’t touch, neither were you allowed to photograph, the models. Those few that you were allowed to touch, were apparently not “working”, though I have to be fair and said that perhaps we do not know how to “operate” them.

At one section was a projection screen screening a documentary on the life of da Vinci. This perhaps was the most informative, fascinating, and “extensive” part of the Exhibition. It would have worth the additional $15 paid had it been played at a theatre-style setting with comfortable seats. But unfortunately it was just a small sectioned off area with wooden benches. Many people were sitting by the sides of the benches because if one was to sit inner or in the middle, he would most likely blocked the view from those behind him. I actually stand for more than half an hour watching the video. And mind you, the video, which I found out later, was just one part of a three-part documentary series produced by the BBC in 2004. It would take 2 hrs 40 minutes to watch all three parts.

As we were hungry we decided to leave. Though we were allowed to re-enter if we chose to by showing the “DV” that were stamped on our hands, we didn’t.

There is a DVD on the Mona Lisa on sale at the merchandise section but not the BBC video that we enjoyed. However some kind soul has broken each of the three-part documentaries into six parts each, which means 18 parts in all, and uploaded them to You-Tube. And this is what I want to share. Do take the time to view all 18 parts. You will come to admire the man who without any doubt is (was) THE Genius.

Part 1 examines the first half of Leonardo's life, from his birth near Florence to his famous achievements in the great cities of the Italian Renaissance. Studying his notebooks, and some of his most famous paintings and inventions, we discover there is far more to Leonardo than you may have thought.