Leonardo da Vinci show at ArtScience Museum in November

SINGAPORE — Leonardo da Vinci will be making his South-east Asian debut at the ArtScience Museum in November.

The museum will be presenting Da Vinci: Shaping The Future, an exhibition that explores the Renaissance man’s life, work and legacy. It will comprise 26 original pages from his largest notebook, the Codex Atlanticus, which compiles his important drawings and writings. Six original paintings from the School of Leonardo will also be on display. The works will be travelling from Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, Italy, organised in association with Foundation Cardinale Federico Borromeo.

The exhibition will focus on five themes around which his practice revolved: Mathematics, natural sciences, technology, architecture and music. Among the highlights is the famous drawing Mechanical Wing (circa 1490), which was modelled after the wings of birds and is seen as the basis of the modern aircraft. Paintings include Saint John The Baptist, The Adoration Of Saint Rocha and Portrait Of A Lady.

ArtScience Museum executive director Honor Harger said: “There is no more fitting place to present original work by the world’s most celebrated artist and scientist, Leonardo da Vinci, than ArtScience Museum. Not only are we bringing masterpieces by one of history’s greatest geniuses to Singapore for the very first time, but we are also doing so in a way that emphasises just how influential Leonardo da Vinci has been and remains today.”

Biblioteca Ambrosiana prefect Monsignor Franco Buzzi said it was “a perfect fit” with the museum’s mission “to tell the story of the renowned Renaissance man and his masterpieces through an ArtScience perspective”.

Da Vinci: Shaping The Future will run from Nov 15 to May 2015 at the ArtScience Museum. For more information, visit http://www.marinabaysands.com/ArtScienceMuseum