Imagining the Future – Leonardo da Vinci: In the Mind of an Italian Genius The exhibition in Washington organized by Confindustria with the support of Pirelli
The monographic exhibition Imagining the Future – Leonardo da Vinci: In the Mind of an Italian Genius, organized by Confindustria with Pirelli as the main partner, will open tomorrow at the DC Public Library in Washington.
There are plenty of links between Pirelli and Leonardo da Vinci: one came in 1920, when Leonardo took the spotlight in an advertising campaign for the Long P: a portrait of him showed “The best eraser for drawing”, as the slogan for the erasers that the company had been producing since 1875. Da Vinci’s influence is also clear to see in the frescoes in the Bicocca degli Arcimboldi, the fifteenth-century villa that is now an institutional venue for the Group, giving its name to the district where the Pirelli headquarters is located. The “Hall of Knots” has a decorative motif that derives from the Mudejar, a typical element of the last phase of Arab Andalusia, which Leonardo da Vinci often used in his works, including in the famous Codex Atlanticus.
And it is the Codex Atlanticus that is at the center of the exhibition curated for Confindustria by the director of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Monsignor Rocca, which will be on show to the public in the library dedicated to Martin Luther King until August 20, 2023. The exhibition will bring the Codex to the U.S. capital for the first time with a selection of 12 original drawings from the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, Italy. The complete collection, dating from 1478 to 1519, contains sketches and preparatory drawings for his paintings, and research into mathematics, geometry, astronomy and optics, as well as philosophical meditations, fairy tales, gastronomic recipes, and military and civil architecture, but also designs for machines for use in war and civilian life, and devices for flight, created by one of the greatest geniuses of all time, universally recognized as a symbol of talent and of Italian know-how.
The project unfolds in 3 stages, in both Italy and the United States: A press conference was held at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, on 7 June with the launch of the multimedia communication plan. The exhibition in Washington DC will open on June 20 and run until August 20. Events will be held in Italy from September to December 2023 to present the exhibition and to examine the content and themes of the project. The aim is to help make known the value of an entrepreneurial spirit and corporate culture throughout the world, as the driving force behind economic, social and civil growth in each country. A multi-disciplinary culture that has always been a feature of Pirelli, and that echoes through the work and genius of Leonardo.
The monographic exhibition Imagining the Future – Leonardo da Vinci: In the Mind of an Italian Genius, organized by Confindustria with Pirelli as the main partner, will open tomorrow at the DC Public Library in Washington.
There are plenty of links between Pirelli and Leonardo da Vinci: one came in 1920, when Leonardo took the spotlight in an advertising campaign for the Long P: a portrait of him showed “The best eraser for drawing”, as the slogan for the erasers that the company had been producing since 1875. Da Vinci’s influence is also clear to see in the frescoes in the Bicocca degli Arcimboldi, the fifteenth-century villa that is now an institutional venue for the Group, giving its name to the district where the Pirelli headquarters is located. The “Hall of Knots” has a decorative motif that derives from the Mudejar, a typical element of the last phase of Arab Andalusia, which Leonardo da Vinci often used in his works, including in the famous Codex Atlanticus.
And it is the Codex Atlanticus that is at the center of the exhibition curated for Confindustria by the director of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Monsignor Rocca, which will be on show to the public in the library dedicated to Martin Luther King until August 20, 2023. The exhibition will bring the Codex to the U.S. capital for the first time with a selection of 12 original drawings from the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, Italy. The complete collection, dating from 1478 to 1519, contains sketches and preparatory drawings for his paintings, and research into mathematics, geometry, astronomy and optics, as well as philosophical meditations, fairy tales, gastronomic recipes, and military and civil architecture, but also designs for machines for use in war and civilian life, and devices for flight, created by one of the greatest geniuses of all time, universally recognized as a symbol of talent and of Italian know-how.
The project unfolds in 3 stages, in both Italy and the United States: A press conference was held at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, on 7 June with the launch of the multimedia communication plan. The exhibition in Washington DC will open on June 20 and run until August 20. Events will be held in Italy from September to December 2023 to present the exhibition and to examine the content and themes of the project. The aim is to help make known the value of an entrepreneurial spirit and corporate culture throughout the world, as the driving force behind economic, social and civil growth in each country. A multi-disciplinary culture that has always been a feature of Pirelli, and that echoes through the work and genius of Leonardo.