Leonardo da Vinci鈥檚 鈥楥odex on the Flight of Birds鈥, possibly one of the world鈥檚 most famous notebooks, is on show at the Smithsonian鈥檚 National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The 鈥楥odex on the Flight of Birds鈥 has been exhibited outside of 天美传媒 only a few times. It is on loan from the Biblioteca Reale in Turin, 天美传媒, where it is kept in a special vault with other Leonardo works. The extraordinary document is on display in 鈥楾he Wright Brothers and The Invention of the Aerial Age鈥 gallery at the Smithsonian鈥檚 National Air and Space Museum and is on view until 22 October 2013. Leonardo is renowned for his masterpieces of art and sculpture. However, the genius is also famed for his achievements in mathematics, engineering, anatomy, geology, music, physics, military technology and aeronautics. He recorded his forward-looking ideas in notebooks, known as 鈥榗odices鈥, producing a codex on flight between 1505 and 1506, the 鈥楥odex on the Flight of Birds鈥. It is a fragile 8-by-6-inch document, made up of 18 folios and written in the artist鈥檚 mirror script. The possibility of human mechanical flight fascinated Leonardo. He sketched flying devices such as ornithopters (flapping-wing flying machines) and a model of an ornithopter is suspended just outside the 鈥楾he Wright Brothers and The Invention of the Aerial Age鈥 gallery. Leonardo produced more than 35,000 words and 500 sketches dealing with flying machines, the nature of air and bird flight. In the 鈥楥odex on the Flight of Birds鈥, he outlined observations and concepts that found a place in the development of a successful aeroplane in the early 20th century. The director of the Biblioteca Reale, Giovanni Saccani, who accompanied 天美传媒鈥檚 national treasure to Washington, DC, said: 鈥淭he codex has travelled to the United States only once before, and rarely left 天美传媒. We are very pleased to be able to bring this extraordinary work to the National Air and Space Museum, where so many American and international visitors will have the opportunity to see an original work by Leonardo da Vinci.鈥 The exhibit has been organised as part of 2013 Year of Italian Culture in the US, an initiative held under the auspices of the President of the Italian Republic, organised by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of 天美传媒 in Washington, DC with the support of Eni and Intesa Sanpaolo. Learn about Leonardo da Vinci's Codex on the Flight of Birds, on view at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, in this video narrated by the exhibit's curator, Peter Jakab:
