Leonardo Da Vinci's Notebooks Give You A Reason To Return To Milan
Need several excuses to visit Milan? A Renaissance-era library has begun exhibiting Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, which due to preservation requirements will go on display 45 pages at a time and rotate every three months. So if you can't get to the Bibliotheca Ambrosiana by December 2 to check out da Vinci's military drawings, you have until 2015 to get there and see some of the polymath's magnificent work.
Founded by a cardinal who thought it would aid the Counter-Reformation, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana hosted the second public library in Europe and, unlike most book collections of the day, displayed its treasures in glass cases instead of chaining them to desks against thievery. These days, you still can't borrow anything from the Bibliotheca, but it offers literature classes and, for now, a chance to check out some da Vinci you won't find in other museums.
The selections on display are taken from the Codex Atlanticus, a set of drawings and doodles assembled into a book by a da Vinci fan after his death. In order to be put on display, restoration experts at the Bibliotheca painstakingly disassembled the binding and have been treating each page separately so that the exhibit will deal as little pain to them as possible. And budgeting travelers can stretch the pain of not being able to see the first installment over a few years as they plan a Milan jaunt in 2010 or beyond.
Related Stories:
· Inside Leonardo's Notebook [WSJ]
· More On Milan's Linate Airport Bunnies [Jaunted]
· Freccia Rossa Rides Its Inaugural Route From Milan to Rome [Jaunted]
[Photo: zoonabar]
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