About the museums

In a joint venture with the Anthropos Association of Italy, Grande Exhibitions has opened permanent museums in two prestigious and central locations in both Rome and Venice.

This new project carries the endorsement of Citta' di Venezia, Comune di Roma & Comune di Firenze and is an important acquisition that strengthens ties between Grande Exhibitions and its Italian partners.

The museums contain faithfully crafted machine inventions previously seen in the successful touring exhibition, Da Vinci – The Genius. As a result of this new partnership these superb interpretations of Leonardo's designs can now be seen on permanent display.

The foremost museum is located in a privileged location at the historic centre of Rome, Chiasa Santa Maria in Piazza del Popolo.

Santa Maria is a Head Augustinian Church, located at the northern gates of the historic walled city. Besides being a pilgrimage site for the Knights Templar, the church also marks the site of the holy inquisition and rumors exist that Emperor Nero's tomb may be buried deep below.

Crafting Leonardo's designs

Besides their skill as craftsmen, our Italian Artisans possess a unique set of talents. They can read and interpret old Florentine dialect, Leonardo's shorthand and his mirror writing. They also have a working knowledge of his intricate drawings and the cryptic methods he used to transcribe them.

Armed with this knowledge our Artisans have scoured 6,000 pages of codices looking for clues to construct Leonardo's designs. As if not arduous enough, Leonardo also protected his designs with his own form of patent - a maze of deliberate mistakes, misleading information, part answers and elements central to the concept hidden elsewhere in his notes.

It is a testament to the Anthropos Association that they have deciphered and constructed more than 120 of Leonardo's designs, where feasible using materials and techniques from 15th Century Italy.