Cultural Studies

Leonardo da Vinci was a tireless and inquisitive reader. He owned more than 200 books about science and technology as well as literary and religious topics. An exhibition organized by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the Berlin State Library at the Museo Galileo in Florence  sheds new light on the intellectual cosmos of the artist, engineer, and philosopher, who remains as fascinating as ever 500 years after his death. more

In an age of modern anatomy atlases and freely available online body-browsers, Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings of organs and body parts done with quill, ink and red chalk may strike us as aesthetically pleasing, yet antiquated. Nevertheless, almost everyone in Germany carries a reproduction of his famous Vitruvian Man with them – on their health insurance card. Alessandro Nova, Director at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, on the other hand, explores Leonardo’s work in the light of the scientific knowledge it generates. more

Florencia Campetella, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, on Maria Sibylla Merian - 17th century entomologist, artist, naturalist and proto-ecologist more

Lively written information is more important for the listening enjoyment than the composer's prestige. more

Analysis of the fossilized dental plaque of a Medieval woman reveals lapis lazuli, suggesting she was an accomplished painter of illuminated manuscripts. more