Email this page  Print this page

By Janice Kleinschmidt

Fortunately for Gabriele Niccolai, he reads 15th century Florentine dialect, written upside down and backward, with ease — all the better to build machines based on sketches and notes by Leonardo da Vinci. A lefthander with no patent laws to protect his inventions, da Vinci wrote in this unorthodox fashion — and even omitted details from his notes.

Having purchased 50 volumes of limited edition, reproduced da Vinci codices — ranging in price from 2,000 to 10,000 euros each — Niccolai initially used a mirror, but then developed a skill that is useful if you're going to replicate da Vinci's inventions: reading the drawings and notes without aid.

"It became easier and easier," he says through an interpreter. "Because it's a Florentine dialect, it's a lot easier for me to understand."

"He can read and interpret them with a deeper understanding than academics," says Luigi Rizzo, curator of the traveling exhibition of da Vinci replica machines making its U.S. debut at Palm Springs Air Museum. "He is a fine craftsman as well, who has continued his father's tradition."

Carlo Niccolai (now 70) was 17 or 18 years old during what Rizzo calls “the first movement in Italy" to focus on da Vinci's inventions. Initially, at the behest of museums in Vinci and Milan, he worked on impressive machines such as tanks and chariots. More recently, Carlo and Gabriele Niccolai and Gianni and Paolo Tarchiani (also father and son) formed Artisans of Florence Teknoart and created their own museum: the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Florence.

"They believed it was more interesting to have the more simple machines," Rizzo says. "They were the first ones to conceive [making them] interactive." According to Rizzo, the 14,000 existing drawings by da Vinci are about a quarter of what he did. "Out of this, one could possibly build about 1,000 machines," he says. "In fact, Gianni mentioned to me that of these 1,000 machines, 250 are still relevant today. We have built 100 [different machines]."

Although the Niccolais and Tarchianis use computer technology to aid them in extrapolating parts when exact interpretation of da Vinci's drawings yields an engineering paradox, they build the replicas only with materials available in the 15th century: wood, iron, canvas, and hand-spun rope, which Rizzo says are still available in specialist antique shops in Florence. However, he notes, "Some items they have to build themselves. … For example, the wooden screws are not available anymore, so they had to create those themselves."

Because of their special expertise, Gabriele Niccolai and Rizzo traveled to Palm Springs to personally oversee installation of the exhibition. To repair any damage sustained by the machines in shipping, they had wax, paint, spare timber, rope, copper wire, and iron sent ahead.

Because Niccolai does not speak English, it fell upon Rizzo's shoulders to train the docents. He also made himself available during the first week of the exhibition to answer questions from the public and gather reactions, as he did in Auckland.

"We are now so familiar with [da Vinci] that we are surprised [at the response]," Rizzo says. "People say, 'Wow, we didn't know he was so prolific or that he did much more than paint the Mona Lisa.' In Italy, most of us have learned in school, of course. We didn't know the depth or breadth of his invention, but we knew."

With workers preparing the air museum hangar, Rizzo admires the juxtaposition of da Vinci’s hang glider and parachute raised in front of a mural showing World War II planes.

"The machines are actually modern-day items, so they fit in very well with the backdrop," he says, referring to how da Vinci's inventions formed the basis for much of what we use today.

The Florentine curator and artisans clearly are pleased to introduce the rest of the world to their hometown hero.