A LEGO brick reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's ornithopter in Florence.

As part of the “Da Vinci Experience” exhibition in Santo Stefano al Ponte(Florence), a model of Leonardo da Vinci’s ornithopter will be on display... in LEGO! Author of the model made with the famous bricks is Jacob Sadovich, an American native ofIdaho, a screenwriter by trade and a great LEGO enthusiast.

On Tuesday, July 10, Sadovich will begin the “live” construction of the ornithopter, fully functional, using 426 official LEGO bricks, more precisely those from the LEGO Technic line connected to a gear that allows the raising or lowering of the entire “wing structure,” following Leonardo’s detailed study. The main element of the set will be the presence of a stand equipped with a crank that is used not only to flap the wings but also to turn a small planetarium placed in the center of the structure. "The gears on the right side perform the rotation of the Sun,“ explains the builder, ”while those on the left side perform the movement of the planet Earth.“ A ”hidden" detail will be the night sky placed above the planetarium, where the Big Dipper constellation is also drawn.

The LEGO ornithopter will then be displayed for the duration of the exhibition, which runs until Oct. 7 (for all information, please refer to the event website ).

With this model, Sadovich has already won the best sculpture award at the LEGO Convention Brickslopes in Orem, Utah.
The ornithopter is the flying machine that Leonardo had built as a result of his studies of bird flight carried out between 1485 and 1490, equipped with two large membranous wings that the “aviator” on board would operate by means of levers and pedals.

A LEGO brick reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's ornithopter in Florence.

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.