From Fra Angelico we walked to the Museo del Opera del Duomo. According to my calculations we still had at least three hours to closing time for the museum which houses the most valuable works of art from the Duomo. But, again we were faced with ‘Florentine time.’ That museum was closed for maintenance. We couldn’t find anyone official to ask, but a wandering priest assured us that it would be open again tomorrow. There was no point in dallying, so we headed for the Duomo.
Ducking down an alleyway, hoping it was a short cut, we nearly walked past a small sign with a picture of Leonardo da Vinci on it. The place looked like an insignificant residence, certainly not a museum, but we decided to take a look.
The first flying machine?
Da Vinci’s tank
Inside the tank
It was one of those serendipitous discoveries that we all hope for while travelling. Unfortunately the books were too heavy to carry home, but photos were permitted. Between us we managed to also get descriptions, in English as well as Italian. I hope you can read them and are as impressed as we were by that amazing man.
Da Vinci’s escalator designed for climbing over enemy walls.
We hoped the Duomo Museum would open again before we left Florence but meanwhile, what luck – we could see models of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions and some of his work on anatomy.
