Revisiting Leonardo da Vinci's genius inventions, 500 years after his death

Celebrating the gifts Leonardo gave to the world Prof. Angelo Mingarelli discusses some of the lesser-known gifts Leonardo da Vinci gave to the world.

Thursday marks the 500th anniversary of the death of Italian master Leonardo da Vinci.

The Renaissance genius died in Amboise in France’s Loire Valley in 1519, at the age of 67.

Special exhibitions are being held in da Vinci’s home country and in France, including a museum dedicated to his groundbreaking inventions in Rome.

CTVNews.ca has rounded up a selection of his genius inventions, recreations of which can be found at the Leonardo Da Vinci Experience near the Vatican.

“I can make armoured cars, safe and unassailable, which will enter the closed ranks of the enemy with their artillery, and no company of soldiers is so great that it will not break through them,” da Vinci wrote in 1482 in a letter to the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Maria Sforza.

“And behind these our infantry will be able to follow quite unharmed and without any opposition.”

The armoured car is one of the most famous projects to emerge from the mind of da Vinci, a precursor to the modern tank built centuries later.

There is no evidence that da Vinci actually built this machine, Leonardo La Rosa, the director of the museum, told CTVNews.ca.

“But his notes definitely contributed to the design of the modern tank, the first model of which, manufactured by the British, appeared in 1916 during the massive Battle of the Somme in the First World War,” he said.

Other blueprints made by da Vinci include flying machines like the aerial screw, an inspiration for the helicopter.

“The aerial screw, which identified and developed the traction efficiency of the propeller many centuries ahead of anyone else, is without doubt one of the most famous inventions conceived by the genius of Leonardo,” La Rosa said.

“There is no evidence that Leonardo actually manufactured and tested this machine, but his notes later inspired the invention of the helicopter, of which a first model, designed by Italian engineer Enrico Forlanini, took to the air in 1877.”

Da Vinci’s prototype would never have worked, according to La Rosa, since the energy produced by the four men operating it would not have been enough to get it off the ground due to the overall weight.

Another invention highlighting da Vinci’s foresight was the self-propelled cart, a forerunner to the car.

“In a note referring to this model, Leonardo da Vinci defines the cart as man’s most important invention; although he couldn’t possibly have imagined how it would be further developed in the future,” La Rosa said.

“The cart would be operated by a manual loading system with leaf springs, which through a series of complicated cog-wheels would transmit the stored power to the drive wheels. The independent drives were connected to the wheels and a device that differentiated the speed, while a shaft, also with a wheel, served to steer the cart in the right direction.”

Other inventions credited to the genius include a multi-barrelled gun, the life preserver, early versions of chains and bicycles and a self-supporting safety bridge.

“Leonardo designed it (the bridge) while he was in the service of Cesare Borgia, the dreaded illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, who had appointed him as his ‘general engineer’ for the Duchy of Romagna, with the specific job of improving the fortifications and strategic infrastructures,” La Rosa said.

“It was made only with chestnut wood planks, ingeniously assembled by interlocking them in a simple and effective order. Thanks to its very basic design, not only could the safety bridge be built without the use of nails or ropes, it could also be assembled and destroyed quickly, so as not to benefit the enemy.”

Da Vinci wrote about the bridge: “The more it is loaded, the more it tightens and has no need for strong abutments like other bridges.”

On Thursday, after visiting da Vinci’s grave and lunching at the Chateau du Clos Luce, where da Vinci lived, French President Emmanuel Macron and his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella will travel to the chateau at Chambord, whose central double-helix staircase is attributed to Da Vinci - though the first stone was not laid until four months after his death.

"It's not often that we have a chance to celebrate Franco-Italian friendship, especially these days," historian and television personality Stephane Bern told AFP.

The commemorations have sparked a dispute after Italy balked at the idea of its museums loaning their da Vinci works -- including the iconic Vitruvian Man drawing -- to the Louvre for a blockbuster show in October.

With fewer than 20 da Vinci paintings and 22 drawings still in existence, many Italians are resentful that the Louvre possesses five of them.

Towards the end of his life da Vinci’s right arm was paralysed, but as he was left-handed he was able to continue working, adding the finishing touches to the Mona Lisa, Bern said.

But whether he considered the painting finished by the time of his death, "we will never know," he says.

"What is pleasing about Leonardo da Vinci is both his genius and his mysteries."

--- With files from AFP