Now the public can get an up-close look at the works of Leonardo da Vinci at a DC public library.
The free exhibit, “Imagining the Future – Leonardo da Vinci: In the Mind of an Italian Genius,” of drawings and diagrams made between the 1400s and 1500s, is at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in downtown District.
The exhibit, which began Wednesday, includes 12 original drawings from da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus collection. This is the first time so many of these pieces have been on display in the United States, library officials said.
The collection “will probably never be here again,” said Richard Reyes-Gavilan, executive director of the library system.
“He was really an engineer first, and he imagined himself a painter second, so I think these drawings really emphasize his obsession with movement, with machines,” Reyes-Gavilán said.
An exhibit called “Leonardo’s Laboratory” is geared toward children and has hands-on activities.
The main attraction will be available until August 20. The exhibition for children will be until September 30.
Only a small number of people can enter the main exhibit at one time. Visitors sign in in the library lobby and then receive a text message when it is their turn.
Check the library’s website for more information.
