Information

RENAISSANCE ENGINEERS

from Brunelleschi to Leonardo da Vinci

The show has been conceived and realized by the Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence with the fundamental financial support and organizational backup from Finmeccanica, Italy’s largest advanced technology company.
The exhibition took over three years to prepare, marking the logical conclusion of a decade-long program of research and exhibitions on Renaissance engineers begun in 1985.The first two milestones along the way were theLeonardo da Vinci: Engineer and Architect show, presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1987, and the 1991 show on the great Sienese engineers of the fifteenth century entitled Prima di Leonardo: cultura delle macchine a Siena nel Rinascimento. The latter formed part of the University of Siena’s celebrations of its 750th anniversary.
The Renaissance Engineers exhibition has been presented in many prestigious venues and has been visited by almost three million people. It was internationally acknowledged and praised by the critics.
A beautiful catalogue in full colors is available in American, English, French, Italian and Japanese editions, as well as a CD-ROM, produced by the Multimedia Laboratory of the Institute and Museum of the History of Science. Both the catalogue and the CD-ROM are published by Giunti Editore, Florence.