Da Vinci exhibition has more than meets the eye

By: Helena Prentis

Most people merely know the Italian Leonardo Da Vinci as the painter of ‘The Mona Lisa’, perhaps the most famous painting ever. However after going to the exhibition on his life, you will learn that he was not just an artist, but also an architect, an engineer and a scientist.

The exhibition comprises of over 60 replicas of Da Vinci’s works, juxtaposed with a timeline of the great’s life so the visitor can understand what was occurring in his life at the time of a work, and how it may have influences him. One particular piece of contextual information is especially interesting- Da Vinci was not Catholic, something uncommon in a time when the world essentially rotated around the Vatican, and many paintings were commissioned by the Church.

In one of the nine rooms that house the exhibition, you learn of the inquisitive scientific mind of Da Vinci, who was carried out numerous human and animal dissections, enabling him to discover the disease multiple arteriosclerosis. His many travels and also his studies on mechanics, physics and engineering lead to many sceptics, but also to the founding steps of inventions such as the bicycle.

All this information is shrouded by the final room in which one can gaze upon perfect replicas of some of his best known works such as ‘The Last Supper’ and ‘The Mona Lisa’. It comes as no surprise that this exhibition has been hugely popular in all the countries and cities it has been to.

The exhibition is located on the top floor of the Convention Centre in the Feria of Puebla, open from 11am to 10pm and it costs 80 pesos.