Art & Design Projects

Sublime da Vinci App

Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomy — all 268 pages from his notebooks, in high resolution.

This sublime collection of drawings of human anatomy by Leonardo da Vinci is one of the greatest treasures from the Royal Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. All 268 pages from Leonardo’s notebooks are presented here at the highest resolution, optimised for the pin-sharp retina display of the iPad. For the first time it is possible for anyone with an iPad to own and explore this remarkable testament to Leonardo’s scientific and artistic genius.

This new digital edition has been specially created for the iPad by Touch Press, publishers of The Elements and Solar System, working in close partnership with the Royal Collection. The app provides the following special features:

• Beautiful interactive book interface

• All 268 of Leonardo’s anatomical drawings pinch-zoomable at high resolution

• Takes full advantage of the iPad’s retina display

• A magic spyglass to decode Leonardo’s mirror writing

• Touch any of Leonardo’s extensive notes to read in situ a typeset English translation

• Eleven story chapters, written by Martin Clayton, Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings at Windsor Castle, explaining Leonardo’s anatomical investigations and presenting over 70 selected works with interactive features

• Integrated 3D anatomical models from world-leading medical animators Primal Pictures, carefully matched to Leonardo’s illustrations and made interactive using rotational technology

• Expert interviews discussing the significance of Leonardo’s anatomical discoveries

• Comprehensive catalogue text for all drawings in the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: The Mechanics of Man at The Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse (2 August – 10 November 2013)

• Intelligent keyword searching and collection navigation via a human body interface

This beautiful interactive edition of Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical notebooks transcends the printed page. Here Leonardo’s work is presented in a way that is both illuminating and a pleasure to explore. This is an edition for the 21st Century in a digital form that the archetypal Renaissance Man would most certainly have appreciated and approved.

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Winner of the 2013 Webby Award, Education and Reference Tablet App.

Winner of the 2012 British Book Design and Production Awards, Best Use of MultiMedia.

Winner of the 2012 Lovie Awards (Gold), Education and Reference Tablet App.