Da Vinci’s machines at San Diego Air and Space Museum

The San Diego Air & Space Museum brings to life Leonardo da Vinci’s visions and ideas at The Da Vinci Experience, opening Jan. 31.

While da Vinci’s genius as an artist is renowned, the museum’s exhibition reveals how his conceptual designs for many technological wonders we take for granted today were centuries ahead of their time.

For the past 50 years a group of Florentine artisans have poured over da Vinci’s notes and drawings in an attempt to faithfully create replicas of his many inventions, relying solely on materials that were available in 15th-century Italy. The result is more than two dozen fully-functional models, 11 of which are full-sized, and an internationally touring exhibition that allows the public to experience da Vinci’s pioneering designs in operation for the very first time.

Arranged into three categories – transportation, military, and mechanical – the interactive models are each displayed with a facsimile of the relevant da Vinci drawing. In addition, reproductions of 12 of da Vinci’s most famous paintings in the exhibition show how, for a Renaissance artist, the arts and sciences were intricately connected.

The Da Vinci Experience will close Jan. 3, 2010.

For more information: SanDiegoAirAndSpace.org