Museo ideale Leonardo da Vinci

History

The museum was inaugurated on October 2, 1993, under the patronage of the Regione Toscana, Provincia di Firenze, and the Municipality of Vinci. Support was provided by the Armand Hammer Center for Leonardo Studies (University of California at Los Angeles) and Raccolta Vinciana.

The museum director is Alessandro Vezzosi and the President of the International Association is Agnese Sabato. Carlo Pedretti was the honorary president until his death on January 5, 2018.

The museum was founded by scholars and artists as the first museum dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci. His works as an artist, scientist, inventor, and designer are explored through the theory of the Imaginary Museum.

It also created the first CD-Rom dedicated to Leonardo, Leonardo: The Digital Painting (ACTA, 1989).

Guidelines

The Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci presents research, philological inquiry and creativity. The three main objectives of the museum are:

Dissemination of knowledge about the true Leonardo, beyond the stereotypes, rhetoric, and legend.

Reporting the results of new studies and interpretations on Leonardo and also his school and influence.

Reporting new interpretations of his work that take into account both the social and cultural context of the Renaissance.

Location

The museum is located within the Conti Guidi castle in Vinci, in the province of Florence, Italy. In 1868, as recorded by Giuseppi Garabaldi, ownership of the castle was shared with the counts of Masetti da Bagnano and the counts Guidi. Opposite the museum entrance is the former location of a mill (with a millpond) that was operated by Leonardo's father Ser Piero and his uncle Francesco, beginning in 1478. The nineteenth-century portion of the building was built on the foundations of the millpond owned by the city and by the da Vinci family.

Due to rainwater leaking into the exhibition areas from the overlying building, the museum was temporarily closed and was planned to reopen in 2019.

Collections

Started in 1972, the collection contains a variety of items pertaining to the city of Vinci. It was designed to assemble a variety of artwork, artifacts, and documents relevant to the museum's mission.

The collection includes original antique paintings, tools, and instruments from Leonardo's time and native land. Objects in the collection include models based on his projects, relevant memorabilia, and thousands of artifacts, including Knots by Albrecht Dürer and the Dome of Arts and Ideas by Buckminster Fuller, both of which are inspired by Leonardo.