Da Vinci coming to Becker County Museum Sept.17

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – It’s official. The Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition will be coming to the Becker County Museum from Sept. 17-Jan. 7, 2024.

The exhibit will house more than 60 fully-built, life-size inventions, as well as, more than 20 fine art studies along with dozens of other displays.

Becky Mitchell, executive director for the Becker County Historical Society and Museum, said she was excited for the life-size representation of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” which is larger than most people think.

“What I never realized was the original “Last Supper” is 30 feet wide by 15 feet tall,” said Mitchell. “With this exhibit, not all facilities can accommodate something this large. So they actually have two versions. They have a smaller version, if you don’t have the ability to house that piece, but we are actually able to house it. So that’s what I’m most excited about. To see that piece, that large, in our facility.”

Guests will have the opportunity to study the “Mona Lisa,” “Portrait of a Young Man,” “Virgin of the Rocks,” and “St. John the Baptist.”

She also said the artwork and display items are recreations and not the original pieces, but the exhibit is really about Da Vinci’s life and the items with interactive learning opportunities.

“The reproductions and the lessons that go with it, this is an examination of his life,” she said. “This is really an opportunity from an educational standpoint to learn more about these pieces, learn more about him … and then, the machines, he never actually built those machines, he just had the vison for them. He had all these thoughts and just sketchbook, after sketchbook, after sketchbook of ideas and thoughts. They’ve taken these sketches and turned them into these life-size models. So this has taken his work, and gone one step further, and actually produced it.”

Da Vinci also extensively explored the world of anatomy and the exhibit also features in-depth explanations of his famous studies on subjects such as the golden ratio and “Vitruvian Man.” The pieces are complemented by enlarged examples of the artist’s sketches and notes made during his controversial research on the human body.

Mitchell said they are going to need a lot of support from volunteers over the next four months to work shifts inside the exhibit hall.

Anyone interested in volunteering, or helping out with the DaVinci exhibit in anyway, are encouraged to contact the Mitchell or the museum at: 218-847-2938.