Blog post 2 johee kwak

Blog post #2

Museum of Leonardo – Machine Project

Professor Lia Halloran

Johee Kwak

In the town of Anchiano, you will find what is considered to be the house of Leonardo da Vinci, an integration of the visit to the museum. It overlooked the beautiful countryside with olive groves and emanated a very peaceful atmosphere. Inside of the home was a permanent educational exhibition including reproductions of drawings illustrating the Tuscan countryside and a map of Valdarno drawn by Leonardo.  He constantly sketched out his thoughts and new inventions using his knowledge as an engineer and physicist. When I was observing his written work, I found that he wrote backwards, a fun fact inferring that he was most likely to be left-handed and dyslexic.    

When we entered the house of Leonardo, I immediately drew strong connections to Leonardo’s paintings with the view of the landscape. He observed birds and studied their ability to fly in relation to the wind and came up with his invention of flying machineries. Being exposed to the view of the countryside, I was able to imagine what it was like to be Leonardo sitting outside drawing and observing what he saw.   

The Leonardo museum portrayed the history of Leonardo as an architect and scientist. There were rooms dedicating his textile manufacturing technology, mechanical clocks, war machinery, aquatic machinery, flying machinery, and many more. The museum was very interactive and they even had computers where we were able to see videos of how the machines worked.  

With a penchant for exploring the waters, I was naturally drawn to Leonardo’s aquatic machines. The video I watched explained his model of the barrage cannon and described the internal mechanisms that Leonardo had specifically designed for maneuverability and movement. Originally, cannons were used at stationary positions at home rather than on the battlefield. This was because it was very heavy and took a long time to reload. His new machine allowed soldiers to simultaneously load three shots enabling them to fire more frequently. This increased speed as well as an easier transporting system. Gathering inspiration from this, Sydney and I decided to create our own aquatic machine which was simple and speedy. In order to do so, we used many of Leonardo’s inventions and observations including the use of a crank and a lever. For example, Leonardo's fighting machine, which is considered to be today's modern tank was powered by two large cranks which were operated by four men. His flying machine was another example which incorporated a crank which enabled the pilot to power the wings of the machine.  We employed a paint roller to replace a crank and the lid of a trash can to replace a lever. These parts as a whole worked together to transport water through a funnel, into the lid of the trashcan, and onto the watercolor paper. Because many of Leonardo’s aquatic machines were tested in the Arno River, we decided to base our drawing on the river itself, thus employed ultramarine and cyan watercolor paint to mimic the river.

Visiting the museum of Leonardo was not only a fantastic experience but I was reminded of his extraordinary observations and inventions. He possessed the most brilliant mind of all times-- he was a painter, architect, sculptor, anatomist, inventor, scientist, engineer, and a musician.  The machine project was challenging but it got us to think, to problem solve, and to understand the importance of balance, speed, weight, and precision.