Humble or inspire yourself with a digital copy of the real Da Vinci Code on your iPad.
Leonardo’s war machines from the 1,000-plus-page Codex Atlanticus are now available for your perusal.
There are a ton of Da Vinci-related apps, but this one, officially called “The Ultimate Codex Experience,” is worth shelling out the $9.99 for because it’s the work of Italian publisher DeAgostini, which holds the copyright to the Codex safeguarded at Milan’s Bibloteca Ambrosiana.
Which, if you happen to visit the Italian city, a rotating exhibit puts on show for the first time in generations until 2015. Barring a trip to Milano, the next best thing is to view it on your iPad.
The app’s material comes from the “Fortresses, Bastions and Canons” exhibit, which I saw back in 2009. Because the live exhibits show 25 pages of the tome at a time, changing every three months or so, you’ll only be able to see these pages on your iPad.
It’ll give you a close-up view of how da Vinci worked — from notes written in his characteristic right-to-left mirror script and the app offers a “innovative virtual instrument” that lets you read it more easily.
While the subject matter may incite more mild interest than awe, the modernity of his 500-plus-year-old ideas is still striking: A tall contraption that moves weights would not look out of place as a resistance machine in a gym.
And, unlike in Milan, audio explanations are provided in Italian, English, French and Japanese.
Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco freelance writer who heads up Cult of Mac Magazine, our weekly publication available on iTunes. You can find her on Twitter and Google+. If you’re doing something new, cool and Apple-related, email her.
11 responses to “Leonardo’s War Machines Hit Your iPad”
Very cool
“Italian publisher DeAgostini, which holds the copyright to the Codex”…
How someone can hold copyright on a document written 500 years ago is beyond me…
Yeah, I know. Clearly I’m not a copyright lawyer but the images themselves might be considered public domain, the actual pictures from the book (which is what we’re talking about here) are not.
There are some great iPhone/iPad and iPod aps for Italy! I’ve got a couple. I might add this one too. The iPhone makes a pretty darn good eBook reader and reference source when you are on the move – provided the battery holds out ;)
Italy’s legal system does move very slowly – the courts probably don’t know Leonardo is dead ;)
“Da Vinci’s Codex” is the really innovative iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch application dedicated to Leonardo Da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus..
For sale to the public on the AppStore (at $9.99) and in the “light” version (at $0.99), Da Vinci’s Codex allows you to explore and navigate across the pages of one of the most important manuscripts in the history of mankind. For the first time it’s possible to see special contents: 45 sheets in high definition, illustrating the development of architectural and scientific thought of the world’s most famous inventor on the subject of the art of fortification and much more!
Download for UK: http://bit.ly/mapHLd
for USA: http://bit.ly/l3w7gw