Review: Leonardo da Vinci CD-ROM
Product Information
Published by: CORBIS©
15395 SE 30th Place
Suite 300
Bellevue, WA 98007
Phone: (206) 641-4505
Web: <http://www.corbis.com>
System Requirements
25 MHz 68030 or better
8 MB RAM (12 MB for Power Mac)
13" monitor or larger with 256 colors
2x CD-ROM drive
System 7.1 or higher
Brilliant! This word describes both the mind and work of Leonardo da Vinci and the multimedia production created by CORBIS. Don't spend your money on Leonardo and the "Titanic," this CD-ROM is a much better use of several hours and your hard earned dollars. The subject of this production is the best example of Petrarchs' true universal man of the Italian Renaissance. Da Vinci excelled as a painter, architect, engineer, scientist, philosopher, humanist, adventurer, and inventor. Even this list does not pay appropriate homage to the true genius of a man who was hundreds of year ahead of his time.
Above all else, he was able to dispel the 'darkness' of the mediaeval world and initiate the modern world potential of the human mind as an endless conduit for discovery and accomplishment. With Leonardo, there was the affirmation that "Man" was the measure of all things. Returning to the past accomplishments of the ancient Greeks and Romans, da Vinci reinforced the power and purpose of the worldly mind. Why is the sky blue? Why does the moon shine at night? Why does water swirl quickly to its inner vortex? These are several among many questions Leonardo da Vinci pursued during his lifetime.
Once we Mac users get past the facts that this project has been largely generated by a Microsoft affiliate, and the core material is based on the content of the purchase of da Vinci's CODEX LEICESTER by Bill Gates, we have to give full credit for a professional product and a very valuable contribution to our cultural heritage. And, you have to appreciate the purchase price of the CODEX--30,000 million US dollars! Yet this purchase price pales in light of the thoughts captured in this single 72-page manuscript and the associated Renaissance phenomena.
This production is user-friendly. A simple installation of QuickTime[TM] 2.5 and Indeo® Video R3.2, included on the CD, are all that is necessary to run the program. This leaves a very small 'footprint' on your hard drive as the program is run entirely from the CD-ROM. Both PowerPC and 68K installation options are available. Talk about simple! Touch any of the top numeric keys to adjust the sound volume. Tap "Esc" and you immediately exit the program. The "Help" control is as it says for every screen, and it gives you a tutorial for every section you are viewing.
After an informative introduction by Martin Kemp, Professor of Art History at Oxford University, and a personal statement concerning the profound understanding of Nature by da Vinci as seen by Mr. Bill Gates, you will be treated to a multi-level voyage through "Tours," the work of Leonardo da Vinci. Kemp's view is nicely reflected in his observation that da Vinci's method of interactive leaps is reflected in the format of this CD. The comparison of microcosm (the human body) and macrocosm (the universe) ends up being appropriately represented by the visual of a "tree" for the Main Menu.
The "Time Line" and other snippets of the program may mislead the novice to the history of the start of Renaissance. Several images and historical benchmarks lead one away from da Vinci to Massacio to Magritte. Although this may confuse the first-time viewer, the relevance to modern thought and imagery is only reinforced by the different time frames and imagery. This is truly a voyage of discovery.
There exists a simple "Guide" for using this CD. As with the other options in this production, you are given a well-narrated guide for navigating through the CODEX, da Vinci's limited painting portfolio, and the general context of the Renaissance period within which he worked. The real heart of the production is the 72 page CODEX LEICESTER. Six areas of exploration were recorded by da Vinci: 'Dynamics of Water,' 'Rivers and Seas,' 'Body of Earth,' 'Astronomy,' 'Atmosphere,' and 'Experiments'. This may sound pretty academic and boring to those of you who are 'working' the latest of the 3-D 'Shoot-em-ups', but trust me, you'll spend more hours of benefit exploring the 'tree' than pushing the kill button. The visual and animated re-enactments of Leonardo's experiments are well worth your time in front of the screen. Often the 'old theories' are nicely reinforced by contemporary photographs and historical scenarios.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the CD-ROM is the creation of the Codescope[TM], a unique viewing and translation tool designed by CORBIS whereby users are able to translate the CODEX LEICESTER into Italian or English, and allowing the reversal of the trademark da Vinci mirror writing associated with Leonardo's' sketchbooks. This tool allows for an easy exploration of all pages of the journal. This visit is easy and reminiscent of an "arm-chair" museum visit. The six themes mentioned above can be easily explored with this unique multimedia tool.
A trip to the "Leonardo da Vinci Gallery" would usually garner interest in the "Mona Lisa." I find the visual of the "Madonna of the Rocks" to be most representative of the paintings. The foreground figures may be interesting, but it is obvious that da Vinci was more intrigued with painting the "grotto" and landscape beyond. The enigma of the landscape was a fixation of this genius. It is also interesting that da Vinci was working with a geocentric theory of the heavens--long since proven inaccurate. He even postulated that the reflective quality of the moon was a result of a water covering. Gosh, didn't we just discover that there is a deposit of water on the moon. Not the water postulated by da Vinci...but he was not far off.
The "Virtual Eight-Room Gallery Space" harbors the intensive nature and accomplishments of Leonardo da Vinci's ideas and theories concerning the earth, water, heavens, and their interrelationship. This area of the CD contains over one hundred of his works and all of his paintings. One additional facet of this aspect of the production is the ability to 'zoom' in on particular images. Put your machine on millions of colors and enjoy the positive aspects of digitalized images.
While on this topic, CORBIS is setup to be a virtual bank of visual imagery ranging from twentieth century Ansel Adams photographs to Northern European paintings such as Jan van Eyck's "Arnolfini and Bride" and everything in between. One can discover that CORBIS is one of the largest digital archives on the 'net. This gives great potential for the high school student 
wishing to illustrate an essay or a corporation seeking that perfect image for a brochure.No, I'm not trying to sell this corporation.I merely support the preservation of anyimage associated with our culture andheritage. Kudos to any corporation orindividual who attempts the same.
My initial response to this production wasthat it was too brief. Upon a more completeanalysis, I came to the conclusion that thisproduction would hold the interest of boththe novice and scholar. "Leonardo da Vinci"is definitely a worthwhile addition to yourCD-ROM Library. And, how can one leavethe review without that famous enigmaticsmile?
Copyright ©1998 Robert Madill, <rmadill@atpm.com>. Mr. Madill is aProfessor of Art and Architectural History on the faculty of Architecture atthe University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Reader Comments (37)
That's a very generous offer. I would be interested in obtaining one copy of the codescope CD. Could you send me more information?
Bob Slotpole
rslotpole@comcast.net
It was my great fortune to stumble upon this review and your comments.
Our Elementary School uses Leonardo and his great works as a "point of departure" for a school-wide technology infused, project based unit. Through Leonardo, our students connect, math, science, technology, art, writing, and nutrition. Please check our "Lunch with Leo" PowerPoint Presentation on our School's web site: www.jmsd.org
We would love to add the Leonardo CD-ROM to our growing collection of Leonardo instructional material. Please let us know if you could spare one more CD.
Jim Hopton
Jefferson-Morgan Elementary School
jhopton@jmsd.org
Thank you,
Richard Gladding
Matthew McCauley
matthew22@aol.com
Xavier Mora
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
xmora@mat.uab.es
I too missed the chance to obtain this wonderful piece of software at the time that it was on sale and have spent several years trying to obtain it second hand to no avail. It may be the case that I am too late this time, but I live in hope. Any reply would be most appreciated.
I am writing on behalf of Visionarium, a Science Centre in Portugal that sets its main goal in educating people through interactive exhibitions within all areas of science. We are, at the moment, producing an exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci and his experiments on the water, including some of his notes on Codex Leicester.
This exhibition is being made in association with the National Museum of Sciences and Technology, who owns one of the three collections built by IBM from Leonardo da Vinci's notes on war and flight machines and water experiments. In addition to that, the organisation of the International Exposition in Lisbon, Expo 98, has donated to us the contents of the exhibit Leonardo Da Vinci@expo98 - La Dinamica Dell Acqua, which will also be used in this exhibition.
As we understand, the organisation of Lisbon's Expo 98 bought the Leonardo da Vinci CD-ROM from Corbis. According to the information I got from Corbis, this CD is no longer for sale. Through an internet search, I found this blog and your name as one of the few people who still have a copy of the CD.
I would like to know if you still have any copy of this CD for sale, and in case you don't, if you know any place where I can purchase this CD in order to have it on the exhibition.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Joana Pauperio
jspauperio@aeportugal.com
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and the passion shows in the level of research, depth, and gorgeous quality.
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I completely concur. It's always so gratifying to encounter a high quality product. Sadly, they're very rare.
Being a software designer, one of my favorite features of the product were the various navigational models used. In its day, those were unheard of. Such pioneering work.
I still have the CD, but I didn't realize how valuable it was until this moment! ;-)
desiree
ddmcc@yahoo.com
I am writing on behalf of University of Technology Sydney, we are also investigating staging an exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci Models
Could you please advise me on how to go about purchasing a copy of your CD Rom
I look forward to hearing from you.
Tania Creighton
Kindly reply with more information as to how we may purchase a copy of the CD package that the talented people at Corbis produced. It will provide great inspiration for local youngsters and Boy Scouts we would like to inspire.
Thank you,
Mike Selnick
selnick@hotmail.com
I saw and used the CD three years ago. It inspired our team when we were designing a DVD that records the collection of the National Palace Museum.
It was belong to the team so I don't have it now.
I wonder if you still have CDs and I would like to buy a copy of it.
Thank you very much,
Chinghsin Wu
chinghsin@gmail.com
I have a couple used copies of the MacIntosh Version. They came from the Bellevue Washington School Surplus sale. I would be willing to negotiate.
mike rochette
nutmegger101@msn.com
A friend gave me the CD as a birthday present. But unfortunately it is the Macintosh version and I have a Windows XP system. Anyone with a Windows version available interested on exchanging it?
Thanks.
jpgarciacol@gmail.com
I am interested in hearing from anyone who would like to sell a well-preserved original copy of the Corbis da Vinci CD.
thanks
chris
cmailander@museumofflight.org
Apologies for not staying in touch with this website; the requests forwarded to me that I responded to early on didn't yield any response in return, but I do believe in promoting this CD-ROM for furtherance of education... and would like to help however possible.
Because so many requests are from earlier years, I'll say from scratch that I have a limited number of copies for both the unnameable and Mac that I'm willing to part with, adding my email address: sallyand (at) comcast.net
Seeing now that there are more requests than I've been aware of over the years, and for so many good causes, please contact me if you still have interest.
You might also try eBay, where I've seen some offered over the past couple of years.
I have them only because I was among the several whose passion it was to make this the best possible contemporary illumination of Leonardo's lifework, inspired by the unusual occasion of a Leonardo codex passing ownership. History continued to reveal new stories even during the creation of this CD-ROM.
I'm heartened by the level of response here, and have a personal passion for educational uses... but without email addresses I'm unable to respond to specific requests.
I'll do my best to respond to interested parties who send me an email address during November.
I have a near perfect copy of the Leonardo, which I think requires MacOS9 to run. I also have unopened copies of Corbis' other CD-ROMS: Volcanoes, FDR, etc.
I am interested in the CD. Is it still available?
hmtl2005@yahoo.com
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