One of the most anticipated exhibitions of 2016: London Science Museum’s “Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying Machines”

▲ The da Vinci special exhibition will feature a wooden flying machine (Photo /Science Museum London official website)

By Rita

The Daily Telegraph described the upcoming Leonardo da Vinci science exhibition in London as“one of the exhibitions to look forward to this year.” The special da Vinci exhibition will focus primarily on his contributions to science and engineering, featuring hundreds of sketches of various machines.

Beyond being a painter, it’s entirely fitting to describe da Vinci as a polymath. Living during the Renaissance, he also had considerable involvement in fields such as sculpture, architecture, music, and engineering. Visitors will see many futuristic designs, such as inventions like the flying chair, showcasing not just knowledge but also immense imagination.

According to the Lonely Planet website, another highlight is the “ornithopter model” on the museum ceiling — a flying machine shaped like a bat or eagle. More than 500 years before the first successful flight of an airplane, da Vinci was already designing flying machines.

Sue Mossman, the exhibition curator, offered some insight into da Vinci’s invention theories. Some believe da Vinci deliberately included errors in his sketches so that these designs would not actually work; others think the sketches were never intended to be built into physical forms.

London Science Museum Leonardo da Vinci Technology Special Exhibition
Address: Exhibition Road, SW7 2DD London, United Kingdom
Exhibition Period: 10/02/2016 ~ 04/09/2016
Ticket Price: £10