My Trip In Italy (Part 1C): Milan - Leonardo da Vinci Science Museum (Continued)
In the last article, we ended with the classical car gallery of the Leonardo da Vinci Science Museum, where four classical cars were on display. Today, I’ll continue sharing my experiences in the museum (which again I strongly recommend you visit if you go to Milan).
Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology
Perhaps one of the most notable galleries is that dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci (which I mentioned in the last article). Leonardo, although best known for his artworks such as the ‘Last Supper’ and ‘Mona Lisa’, also personally drew intricate diagrams and designed machines, the latter of which are conceptualized through miniature physical models.
One of my favorites is his ‘covered war carriage’, which was inspired by the medieval period where the ‘war-faring tradition’ was popular in combat. It has four huge gears functioning as wheels and an engine that powers the beast, while the entire thing is covered by a wooden enclosure shaped like a huge tortoise shell. There are also openings around the shell to enable soldiers to fire weapons, and a protruding 360-degree observation area with slits that enable people to see outside. This design was basically the precursor to early tanks. However, it was never actually built and remains one of those interesting but forgotten ideas from Leonardo.
There was also an exhibit dedicated to Leonardo’s study of bird anatomy, with real-life specimen poised in different positions of flight. This is something I admire about Leonardo da Vinci: he dedicates unbelievable effort to his craft, perfecting every single minor detail.
Throughout the museum, there were also other interesting exhibits.
One of them that I found especially interesting was a wooden solarium that had mirrors and light-bulbs covering the entire inside, with enough space that a person could sit. Although it could probably achieve the same purpose as its modern counterpart, I’m surely never using this contraption - it seemed uncomfortable to sit in, and it looked so fragile that it may break at any second!
Another exhibit was the ‘life cycle of products’, which visualized the manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal of household items, including the TV that you watch, the overhead lights that illuminate your living room, the chair you sit in, etc. I can definitely appreciate the effort the designers of this exhibit put in to emphasize the environmental impact of our products. However, I kept thinking it did a great job at vividly representing the fact ‘virtually everything you take for granted are the product of humans, not nature’.
Just when I thought my tour of the museum had ended, I saw a sign that pointed towards a separate building, dedicated to trains. The museum literally built a multi-lane ‘train station’ in its courtyard, with everything from signal lights to track-changing levers. Here, they housed real steam locomotives, a carriage of the ‘Tram Line 1’ of Milan (which I took everyday during my stay to get around the city), and everything in between. Two of the locomotives had stairs, which enabled me to get up and see the interior. And the best part? I could actually touch the components such as the braking mechanism, the door handle for adding coal, and feel what it must have been like for the engineer to drive this mechanical beast. Never before did I have the chance to actually experience the size of locomotives - I was surprised that just the wheel of the train was already taller than myself.
Outside the locomotive building is an outdoor area. Here, there is the Submarine S506 Enrico Toti, the first Italian submarine built after World War II, and a full-size scale replica of the ESA’s Vega rocket. Great place to snap some photos, that’s for sure.
Moving past that is the final building, where a few different exhibitions are held together.
On the ground floor, there’s the naval gallery, with the centerpiece being a colonial-era ship, with a deck ‘decked-out’ with lifeboats, masts, barrels, etc, and a hull so large it stretched down into the basement. There is also the sawed-off half of a real ship, the catamaran Luna Rossa from the 2013 America’s Cup, showcases of canons from colonial vessels, anti-aircraft guns housed on military ships, and countless other artifacts that hold testimony to the vast Italian naval tradition.
Above this area is the air transport gallery. There are real helicopters as well as multiple single-propeller fighter planes. However, what really caught my attention was the helicopter model. It was a stripped-down version of the core mechanisms of single-rotary aircraft, where I could see clearly the gears and transmission systems. Before, most of my knowledge on helicopter operation came from YouTuber Jared Owen’s video on the Pave Hawk. This exhibit finally enabled me to physically experience what it’s like to pilot these powerful aircraft, as well as see the Collective Control, the Cyclic Control, and Antitorque Pedals in action.
Conclusion
I concluded my tour of the museum by getting a book covering the Leonardo da Vinci Galleries, which I hope will further deepen my understanding of these magnificent exhibits.
In the next article, I’ll be focusing more on other landmarks within Milan, including the famous Duomo di Milan, Castello Sforzesco, and more. Thank you for reading.