Once, a high school professor, when introducing a lesson on Leonardo da Vinci, said that “it’s easier to say what the Genius was not, rather than listing all the subjects touched by his studies.” Among these, one of his favorites was undoubtedly water and all its properties. It’s no coincidence that in a manuscript by Leonardo from 1490-1491, it reads: “Water is among the four elements the second least heavy and the second most volatile. It never rests until it joins its maritime element […]. It gladly rises by heat in thin vapor through the air. Cold freezes it, stability corrupts it. […] It takes on every smell, color, and taste, and has nothing of its own.” In short, almost five and a half centuries ago, the Genius of Vinci had already understood nearly everything about water and how to manage it. In terms of documents, we know this well today because on the 36 sheets of the Codex Leicester, owned by Bill Gates, there are abundant notes, reflections, theories, and extraordinary drawings to illustrate the concepts presented, all revolving around the undisputed protagonist of this precious text: water.
It was probably during Leonardo’s trip to Milan (around 1482, where he would then remain for almost two decades) that Da Vinci delved deeper into his interests related to water, partly because the city was already crossed by navigable canals and the surroundings were intersected by a network of channels. During that time, he worked on irrigation outlets, the canal to connect the Adda to Milan, navigation locks to overcome the challenges of different watercourse levels, locks, bridges (including rotating ones to allow the passage of large boats), and boats.
In fact, even as a young man, when it came to hydraulics, Leonardo had dreamed of connecting Florence to the sea through various modifications to the course of the Arno River. He had also realized that it was possible to drain the Pontine Marshes by diverting the river that fed it. Not to mention that he had considered using small canals to feed water displays in the new residence of the Governor of Milan, Charles d’Amboise.
These and many other topics will be discussed in Florence and Milan, which will retrace the Genius’s footsteps together. The universities of Florence and Milan, both celebrating their centennial anniversaries this year, are jointly organizing two events dedicated to the great scientist, inventor, and artist. The genius’s biography – the years spent in Florence and his long stay in Milan – symbolically unites the two cities and the two institutions.
On Monday, April 15, Leonardo’s birthday, the University of Florence will host a joint day of studies in the Aula Magna (9:30 AM – Piazza San Marco 4), titled “In the Sign of Leonardo: Between Florence and Milan. The Project of Knowledge,” which will be opened by the greetings of Unifi Rector Alessandra Petrucci and the Rector of the University of Milan, Elio Franzini. The event will then be introduced by the coordinator of the 100 Years Committee, Bernardo Sordi. “The polymathic industriousness of the artist,” explains Emanuela Ferretti (Department of Architecture), who is coordinating the initiative, “is a vivid testimony to the osmosis between Florence and Milan, between the 15th and 16th centuries, unfolding along intricate cultural, economic, and social trajectories.” The initiative, which involves national scholars and experts, will serve as a moment of scientific exchange, with an interdisciplinary approach, on a theme that frequently recurs in Leonardo’s research: water, in its many forms. Topics such as the birth of the myth of Leonardo as a scientist or the stories of the dispersion of his papers will also be addressed.