Leonardo museum route
The Leonardo museum route includes the Museo Leonardiano, Leonardo's Birthplace and the Leonardo and his painting exhibit; it consists of several venues that are located at a short distance from each other.
The idea of dedicating a museum to Leonardo in his hometown was born in 1919 during the celebrations for the fourthcentenary of his death when the Conti Guidi Castle, the medieval building that is the symbol of the town of Vinci, was donated to the Municipality of Vinci.
After the restoration work on the building in the years 1939-1942, the Museo di Leonardo was inaugurated on April 151953 thanks to the contribution of the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) which donated to the Municipality a whole series of reconstructed models based on Leonardo's drawings.
The first rooms of the museum are set up in the Palazzina Uzielli, merged since 2004 with the Conti Guidi castle in a single museum route, which covers the first floor and the ground floor, where there are several sections, each one dedicated to a different aspect of Leonardo's studies, such as the building-site machinery, textile manufacturing technology, mechanical clocks, war machinery, flying machines, anatomy.
The route, continuing in the Ebbe nome Lionardo immersive room about the life of the genius from his birth to his move to Florence, ends in the castle tower, where you can visit the room of geometric solids and the panoramic terrace (open from April to October);from here you can enjoy a beautiful view which stretches from the Montalbano hills, to the Apuan Alps, to the Pisan Mountains up to the Leghorn plain.
Leonardo's Birthplace, located in Anchiano, 3km away from the centre of Vinci, whose evidence was already recorded in 1427, belonged to the Vinci family for over 150 years.
The exhibit is divided between the Birthplace, consisting of three different rooms, and the neighbouring farmhouse.
In the Birthplace, the Leonardo in Vinci: a genius tells about himself audio-visual narration, makes use of 3D technology to let the visitor re-experience Leonardo and his most intimate and personal universe. The multimedia interactive application Leonardo Touch instead presents his painting and graphic work, using several themed search options and lets you interact with the drawings and paintings so as to discover each detail.
In the farmhouse next to the birthplace you find the section deidcated to the Last Supper, Leonardo's only mural painting still visible to this day, a high-definition digital reproduction of the work is displayed.
The exhibit Leonardo and Painting, housed in the historic Villa il Ferrale, halfway between Vinci and Anchiano, features life-size, high-resolution reproductions of all the paintings and some drawings by Leonardo, giving visitors the extraordinary impression of finding themselves face to face with the masterpieces of the Genius assembled in a single venue.
From Vinci you can easily reach Anchiano by car, but even more evocative is the easy trail that, through the Tuscan olive tree strewn countryside, leads to Leonardo's Birthplace.
Comune di Vinci
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Museo Leonardiano
Housed in the Palazzina Uzielli and the ancient castle of the counts Guidi, dating back to the 11th century. It is dedicated to Leonardo 's activities as a scientist, technologist and engineer. On display are models of machines based on Leonardo's codices, together with animations that show how they operate: from building site machines to flying and military ones, and science instruments too. One room is dedicated to optical studies.
Leonardo's birthplace
In Leonardo’s birthplace in Anchiano, a cluster of houses about two kilometres from Vinci, there is a permanent exhibition. In the home, the audio-video narration Leonardo in Vinci: A Genius Tells His Story uses modern 3D technology to make Leonardo and his most personal, intimate, less-known universe alive again. The relationship between Leonardo and the Vinci and Montalbano areas, in particular, gains new life thanks to the several drawings that attest to Leonardo’s frequent visits to these places.
A life-size hologram, mixing video, theater and documentary, gives voice to an old and tired Leonardo who, from his last home in Amboise, looks back to the past to recount his relationships and studies, and the events that connected him to this land.
On the other hand, the interactive multimedia app Leonardo Touch presents the pictorial and graphic works of Leonardo, following several research itineraries to interact with the drawings and paintings, so as to discover every detail in them. In the adjacent farmhouse, the section dedicated to The Last Supper, Leonardo’s sole mural painting visible today, displays the HD digital reproduction of the work, a 1:2 scale model projected on a wall. The technology employed allows you to explore the painting through two research modalities, a movement and a touch screen one. It is possible to activate several thematic itineraries, such as the iconographic and historical-artistic ones, as well as one dedicated to restoration.
Leonardo and his Painting exhibition section - Villa Il Ferrale
The historic villa Il Ferrale, halfway between Vinci and Anchiano, already existed in the Renaissance, but its present appearance is due to late 19th century restoration works.
The imposing-looking villa is surrounded by an Italian garden and houses a monumental stone fireplace that apparently comes directly from Leonardo'shome; a plaque on the facade remembers Giuseppe Garibaldi who stayed here in 1867.
The villa il Ferrale, which houses an important farming estate, features the exhibition Leonardo and his Painting which displays the life-size, highresolution reproductions of all the paintings and some of the drawings byLeonardo, giving visitors the extraordinary impression of being face to face with the Genius's masterpieces gathered in one place.
Alternating with the reproductions of masterpieces that make for a fascinating overview of the painting journey of the Vincian artist, are some educational installations and explanatory videos with interesting insights on the works themselves.
