Everyone in the world knows Leonardo’s genius as an artist and scientist. But few people know that Leonardo was also a “vocabulist” — a collector of words.
During his stay in Milan, in order to enrich his vocabulary, Leonardo transcribed around 8,000 words in the form of long lists in a notebook. This special book is a true gem: one of the earliest known lexicons of the vernacular. It is called the Trivulziano Codex and is preserved in Milan at the Trivulziana Library of the Castello Sforzesco.
For Leonardo, the words recorded in the Trivulziano Codex were words to be remembered. And it is precisely to prevent them from being forgotten that they must now be brought to light and back to our attention — allowing them, finally, to “speak” to everyone.
This purpose of URPS has given rise to “Leonardo Parlante” (Leonardo Speaking), a project curated by and featuring artworks by Sabrina D’Alessandro, hosted by Castello Sforzesco | Municipality of Milan, Casa degli Artisti Milano, MUNAF – National Museum of Photography, and IIIC Oslo, on the occasion of the XXV Week of the Italian Language in the World.
Most of the works connected to the project were created during D’Alessandro’s residency at Casa degli Artisti Milano, which also co-produced the installation of the word-sculptures exhibited at the Castello Sforzesco and the large Leonardo Parlante posters displayed throughout the streets of Milan.
