How does a genius think? Google’s AI tries to enter Leonardo da Vinci’s mind

In collaboration with 28 institutions from all over the world, Google Arts & Culture presented the “Unveiling Leonardo” project at Castello Sforzesco in Milan, one of the main “stages” on which it performed, the largest online retrospective dedicated to Leonardo since Vinci, which showcases codices and manuscripts, along with his artistic and scientific contributions.
For the first time, 1,300 pages taken from his codes have been brought together. The manuscripts, full of sketches, ideas and observations, open a window on the imagination and mental processes of one of the greatest and most eclectic geniuses in history. With the help of Machine Learning, the “Inside the Genius Mind” section goes through Leonardo’s interesting pages and codes.

The experiment, in the words of Professor Martin Kemp, who curated the section, “transforms the different contents of the Codes into an interactive visual journey, involving the public with a powerful tool to learn more about the complexities and connections that cross the genius of Leonardo, making clear what seems obscure. The goal is to let Leonardo speak to us visually over 500 years.”

Furthermore, the pictorial masterpieces scattered in museums around the world, from the self-portrait to the Lady with an Ermine of Krakow, are brought together for the first time in a virtual gallery, going beyond the confines of the individual collections that conserve them.

There is no shortage of animations of the “machines” of the genius of Vinci, from war machines to projects for flying machines, to engineering works.

All in very high resolution, so you can appreciate even the smallest details.