Steph Rizzo speaking at the Goldfields Gothic Festival of Dark Ideas – DED Talks program, Maldon Victoria, 4/8/2024
This year’s Goldfields Gothic Festival of Dark Ideas provided a perfect platform to unearth lesser-known ideas about Leonardo da Vinci’s genius.
Leonardo lived during Europe’s Renaissance (Italian: Il Rinascimento, meaning rebirth), when Humanism was the prevailing philosophy. It was an era when scientific methods, though not yet named as such, began to overshadow Christian theology in explaining our origins and life’s governing principles.
Steph Rizzo shared captivating insights about Leonardo’s thoughts that led to human flight, understanding blood flow through the heart, and uncovering diseases like arteriosclerosis (thickening of the arteries) and cirrhosis of the liver.
By linking his studies in anatomy, nature, engineering, geology, and the arts, Leonardo came to a deep and unique understanding of the universe and our place in it.
In Leonardo’s worldview, “the painter holds the universe in his mind and hands.” To tackle the intractable problems of our increasingly complex world, we can look to Leonardo and learn to see that “everything connects to everything else”.
Steph portrayed a polymath who saw no divide between arts and science. To develop a complete mind, Leonardo urges us to “study the science of art. Study the art of science”.
Though Leonardo has been gone for 500 years, there is still so much we can learn from him.
Our interactive touring exhibition, Da Vinci Machines and Robotics, is available from 2025.
This unique and extensive da Vinci exhibition, on loan from the Museum of Leonardo da Vinci (Florence – Italy), invites hands-on exploration of the mind of the genius, and features Leonardo’s most iconic inventions and significant discoveries.
Download our brochure and request a quote from the Artisans of Florence International webpage.