(ANSA) - Artists, architects, academics and designers have joined forces to battle the growing phenomenon of "Leonardo-ization".
Dozens of experts from a range of different fields have joined the campaign, which opposes the exploitation and commercialization of Leonardo da Vinci's name and work. "Leonardo is increasingly famous but his name has become overused in clichés and misunderstood through banal, implausible interpretations," said the director of the Leonardo da Vinci Museum, Alessandro Vezzosi.
"We decided to produce a thought-provoking manifesto on Leonardo, in the name of ethics, art and creative awareness." The team believes that the Renaissance genius's ideas, designs and projects are light years away from the simplistic concepts popularized in novels such as Dan Brown's runaway blockbuster The Da Vinci Code.
But their ire is also targeted at "ugly reproductions" of Leonardo's work, the "unsightly reconstructions of his machines" and "nip-and-tuck" restorations of his art. The booklet the team has produced, which was unveiled near Florence on Sunday, aims to introduce the public to "the
real Leonardo". The first two sections of the booklet group together a selection of his writing, highlighting his moral stance on a series of issues. Leonardo attacked hypocrites, ambitious tyrants and corrupt officials, recommending determination, truth, experience, reason and nature as the best way to move forward.
The third and fourth parts of the book pinpoint the movement's unease with the current "Leonardo phenomenon", explaining why they believe it threatens to undermine a real understanding of his work. While Leonardo has always been a well-known figure, there has recently been a growing drive to make his work accessible to the general public.
There have been numerous exhibits featuring real models of his famous designs, such as helicopters, submarines and airplanes, while "hands-on" exhibits have encouraged kids to create urban and military structures based on sketches in his manuscripts. Leonardo's so-called "car" - an automated cart - has proven a particularly popular topic, prompting two separate travelling shows in recent years, while a few months ago, a concert of classical music was played on instruments designed by the master.
The manifesto describes itself as "a cry against rhetoric, face-lifting restorations, exhibits without ideas, large and small models, bite-sized museums, falsehoods passed off as the truth and spin-offs of the Da Vinci Code and its mysterious idiots."
The plan to fight this popularization first took shape in Vezzosi's museum, which lies in Leonardo's home town of Vinci, a few miles west of Florence. "This is where we've been working for 12 years to educate people on Leonardo, in all his complexity and continuing relevance today," said the scholar. "We've always made an effort to distinguish the true from the false." Vezzosi explained that the manifesto, a work in progress, had evolved out of discussions and meetings between an initial group of around 20 artists, Leonardo experts, designers, architects, writers, art historians and intellectuals.
Since then, the number of those involved has expanded, bringing in philosophers, scientists, economists and musicians. The manifesto is already being circulated in Tokyo and New York, with Italy next on the list.
