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Of all the iconic images people associate with Leonardo Da Vinci, the armoured tank probably isn’t the first to spring to mind.
The strange, pod-like contraption, which da Vinci apparently built in 1487, looks like something George Lucas might have dreamed up. It is believed to be a prototype of the modern tank, built on a system of geared wheels with guns around the perimeter of the vehicle and a wooden, conical cover. A replica of it is currently residing at the Telus Spark Science Centre as part of Da Vinci: The Exhibition, which opened to the public on Monday.
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Visitors are invited to climb inside the tank, one of many hands-on replicas on display.
The interesting thing about this invention, also known as the “fighting vehicle,” is that it didn’t actually work, and that may have been by design.
“He really wasn’t one for war,” says Megan Tackaberry, manager of creative experience at Telus Spark. “Some speculate he purposely made the tank to not participate in war.”
The exhibition, which runs until May 5, invites visitors to take in life-sized models of more than 65 inventions by the artist, inventor and general genius alongside studies of his iconic masterpieces, including the Mona Lisa and a stunning life-sized replica of The Last Supper.
There are reproductions and in-depth explanations of some of his more famous studies, including the Vitruvian Man drawing — which da Vinci created in 1490 and was based on the work of the first-century Roman architect and the artist’s own observation of the human body.
There are replicas of an early parachute, hang glider, propeller, light projector and the first self-propelled cart. There is a model of an “ideal city.” After the 1484 plague inspired him to think about cleaner cities, da Vinci the urban planner imagined a metropolis made up of connected canals to be used as a sewage-removal system. There is the Room of Mirrors, which proved popular with a group of school kids who got a sneak peek of the exhibit on Monday morning, an eight-sided enclosure fitted with angled mirrors to allow him to study the human form in various poses.
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There are studies on such objects as the anemometer with blades, designed to lift heavy objects using the power of wind or water; and a waxed hygrometer, used to measure humidity and predict changes in the weather; and his portable piano, which combined the viola and the function of a harpsichord.
But he also designed more menacing contraptions, such as a fan-type gun, a lethal-looking scythed chariot fitted with rotating blades, various cannons and improvements on the catapult. In fact, if da Vinci was a pacifist, as some claim, he did seem to spend a good deal of time studying warfare.
The exhibit is meant to offer a glimpse into da Vinci’s otherworldly imagination and his thought process, even if these things remain a bit of a mystery, Tackaberry says.
“Does anybody really know?” she adds. “To see what the inside of his brain looked like would be something.”
Da Vinci: The Exhibition is on display at Telus Spark Science Centre until May 5.
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