The World of Leonardo da Vinci exhibition in Portland will allow people to admire two original folios from Codex Atlanticus (the greatest collection of Da Vinci's manuscripts) on loan from Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. Visitors can also consult all pages of the Codex Atlanticus and the Codex on Flight in digital format and interact with the 3D reconstructions of their most iconic machines.

The rigourous analysis of the manuscripts has led Leonardo3 research center to recreate several machines for the first time ever: the Mechanical Lion, the Rapid-fire Crossbow, the Great Kite, the Great Organ, the Retractable Ladder and many more physical models.

When it comes to Leonardo’s artistic production - in addition to the experiences dedicated to the Mona Lisa, the Lady with an Ermine and the Vitruvian Man - visitors particularly appreciate the Last Supper digital restoration which allows people to discover details of the original that have been lost forever.

One of the most interesting machine presented in the exhibition will be the Paddle Boat, a nautical machine that Leonardo studied during his early years in Milan. Drawn in the center of folio 945r of the Codex Atlanticus, this invention involves a mechanism set in motion by two pedals, which transforms the alternating movement into continuous rotating movement for the paddles. The Leonardo3 research center has physically reconstructed a life-size model of the boat so visitors can occupy the positions of the two operators as Leonardo intended. The person peddling sets the boat in motion; the person steering drives it while also admiring a view of Milan’s canals as they looked during Leonardo’s time using a virtual reality headset. This incredible virtual experience will be presented for the first time in the USA.

Some parts of the exhibition are intended expressly for children like Leonardo’s Workshop, which allows them to assemble Leonardo’s inventions themselves and receive a printed inventor’s certificate, and the model of the Self-Supporting Bridge, which they can physically assemble using wooden parts.