Learning about the Creative Life of Leonardo da Vinci

Interactive Galleries of da Vinci's Art, Work, Journals and Inventions

As a primer to Creativity Portal's Learning from Leonardo da Vinci series, the following is a list of related Web resources that do an excellent job at showcasing da Vinci's art, journal pages, sketches, and inventions. Our feature is not intended to duplicate these efforts, so if you would like to get fundamentally acquainted with Leonardo da Vinci's life work, these resources will fit the bill. The following Websources include online museums with interactive presentations and learning, with rich galleries of da Vinci's work and creative habits.

Featured Leonardo da Vinci Resources

Michael J. Gelb
Interviews and articles written by and about Michael, author of "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day."

Leonardo Virtual Museum
A collection of "found objects that have been associated with Leonardo da Vinci." Categories include ads and magazine covers, artwork, cards, clothing, Mona Lisa's, models, and sculptures.

Leonardo da Vinci: Scientist, Inventor, Artist
An information-rich resource from the Boston Museum of Science featuring four categories of da Vinci exploration: Leonardo at the Museum, Exploring Leonardo, Renaissance Man, and a Multimedia Zone.

National Museum of Science and Technology: Leonardo da Vinci
A nine-part Leonardo exhibit that includes a gallery, his machines in VRML, manuscripts, and interactive movie on his Mechanical Weaving Loom.

BBC Science & Nature: Leonardo (1452-1519)
An interactive journey through da Vinci's life and works to discover what made him a true Renaissance man. Includes a picture gallery of famous masterpieces (including the Mona Lisa), timeline, and free computer desktop wallpaper to download.

Leonardo da Vinci: Master Draftsman
An interactive feature from the Metropolitan Museum of Art designed to complement the museum's exhibition. Contains an introduction to Leonardo and his drawings, essays on his left-handedness, life and work chronology, and audio 'perspectives by curators, scholars, and authors.'

Leonardo da Vinci's Notebook
An interactive feature from the British Library that allows you to view Leonardo's notebook in 3D. Regarding the pages, the site notes, "This notebook of Leonardo da Vinci in the British Library is known today as the Codex Arundel. It is not a bound volume, but was put together after his death from his loose papers of various types and sizes."

Leonardo da Vinci's Horse
A project fulfilling Leonardo's great horse sculpture proposal — 500 years later. "The goals of this project are to honor the genius of Leonardo and pay homage to him by building a colossal horse based on his drawings."

Bizarre Facts from the Da Vinci Code
Author Dan Brown shares interesting information about "The Secret Life of Leonardo da Vinci" and other tidbits about the artist's life related to his best-selling book.

Leonardo da Vinci: Wikipedia Entry
An encapsulated summary of da Vinci's personal and professional life accomplishments including his paintings, inventions, and notebooks.