Discovery Channel's Doing da Vinci 

First Episode: April 2 at 1:15 PM
Second Episode: Wednesday April 5, 6:15 PM
PPLD Library 21
1175 Chapel Hills Drive 
Room B6

A different look at the Renaissance

A painter extraordinaire, Leonardo da Vinci was also a successful architect and engineer, and his drawings of military weapons have been studied for hundreds of years. Now, in this six-part series on the Discovery Channel , a team of builders, engineers and historians attempt to build these weapons, including a futuristic armored tank and a scythe chariot, using materials that were available only during da Vinci's time.

Then …

Now!!!

First Episode April 2 at 1:15 PM

Second Episode Wednesday April 5, 6:15 PM

A War Machine for the Duke of Milan

Leonardo Da Vinci is known as the epitome of the Renaissance. Besides producing some of the world’s best-loved paintings, e.g. Mona Lisa, he was a mathematician, botanist, geologist, musician, architect and engineer. He was also a brilliant inventor, coming up with fantastical ideas that would, in time, become a reality, though not in his lifetime, and in most cases not until hundreds of years later.

Designs for a Scythed Chariot - by Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo's extensive studies of weaponry correspond closely in scope and ambition to the claims he made in his letter to Ludovico, embracing all types of contraptions, both ancient and modern: he drew up annotated lists of classical devices, based upon sources such as Valturio and Vitruvius; he worked on feasible designs for modern cannons, crossbows, etc., with careful investigations of their ballistics; and he sketched military fantasies which certainly outstrip the technological realities of the period.

One family of designs from the 1480s combines all these elements at the same time: classical precedent, military reality and a dash of inventive fancy. The illustrated example shows one of his many schemes for scythed chariots of a decidedly nasty kind; a related drawing in Turin (Royal Library) displays its chopped-up victims to underline its intended effect. Such designs were generically based upon classical descriptions and were conceived as much for their sense of stylishness as for their practicality in modern warfare.

Join with us in celebrating this giant of the Renaissance.

As always, no affiliation to the Big Ten is required, all citizens of The Springs and patrons of PPLD are welcome.

PPLD is only providing the room for the event. This is not an endorsement of The Big Ten Alumni or the Silence Dogood Society.