Esteve Llobet, from the Antic Major establishment, has always been a fan of Leonardo da Vinci. Lately, however, his hobby has gone a step further: in recent days he has been working hard to complete a project based on a piece from the Tuscan artist's Atlantic Codex.
Esteve Llobet has taken the wings of Davinci’s work. They are part of the theory of the flight of birds, on which Leonardo based almost all flying machines: it postulated that birds push the air down, to support their weight, and backward to move forward. And this is how the ancient world explained the phenomenon of flight.
Today, Esteve is working to finish his work, according to the criteria of da Vinci. "Leonardo da Vinci was a fabulous inventor and made these wings to fly." Esteve Llobet is building the piece with natural materials from its time: cane, wood, wicker, linen fabric and rope. "When it's over, I'll need a volunteer to try it," jokes Llobet with a laugh.
The Codex Atlanticus is a 12-volume, bound set of drawings and writings (in Italian) by Leonardo da Vinci, the largest single set. Its name indicates the large paper used to preserve original Leonardo notebook pages, which was used for atlases. It comprises 1,119 leaves dating from 1478 to 1519.
