All the genius of Leonardo da Vinci in an unrepeatable exhibition with over 50 machine models faithfully reproduced following the Codes, thanks to the study and work of the Florentine artisans of the Niccolai family. It is the Leonardo in Fortezza exhibition event hosted from 15 June to 30 September 2024 in Pitigliano, in the premises of the Ex Granai.

The exhibition is curated by the Le Macchine di Leonardo da Vinci Museum in Florence and organized by Genius loci srl with the patronage of the Municipality of Pitigliano. In the exhibition itinerary it is possible to admire some of the most famous inventions of the Florentine genius: the ancestor of the helicopter, one of the most famous projects, the glider, the parachute, the self-propelled trolley to be used as a stage apparatus, considered the ancestor of the automobile ; the steam rotisserie, a kitchen machine that approaches cooking perfection; the study of gears; the device for repelling enemy ladders in defense of the walls; Archimedes’ screw, the demonstration of the impossibility of perpetual motion and much more.

The history of the Niccolai family dates back a long time. Around 1960 it was Carlo who decided to transform his laboratory of objects for Italian high fashion accessories into a real forge where manual skill produced Leonardo’s machines of a high level of craftsmanship. Partly out of passion, partly to try a new adventure, Carlo started a real collection of working machines by Leonardo da Vinci. After having purchased and carefully read some pages of Leonardo’s Codes, he began to replicate the projects on a larger scale, even life-size, literally transforming himself into a carpenter. Working with wood is not a simple job, especially if you have to give life to projects from centuries and centuries ago through manual work, especially without anyone having ever carried them out.

Carlo, however, did not give up and thanks to the resourcefulness of his son Gabriele he made himself known in the academic field. Obviously, without the contribution of scholars capable of reading, deciphering and bringing back to craftsmanship the notes that Leonardo wrote alongside the models in the Codexes, Carlo would never have refined his models. Among scholars we love to remember Prof. Carlo Pedretti. It will be thanks to his appreciated contribution that it was possible to reconstruct the incredible robot capable of playing the drum. Giving life to a real collection, now refined by the academic contributions of eminent scholars, Carlo and Gabriele undertook the parallel path of organizing cultural events linked to the name of Leonardo. Thus they began to make themselves known to museums, institutions and private individuals who wanted to possess, albeit for the time necessary for the event, a piece of Leonardo’s mind.

Entry times: the exhibition is open on weekdays from 10.30am to 8pm and on Saturdays and holidays from 10.30am to 10pm.

Adult ticket 7 euros; children aged 6 to 12 years 5 euros; children from 0 to 5 years free. Reduced ticket for groups of 10 to 25 people 5 euros per person.

Info: www.leonardoapitigliano.it