One of the less investigated aspects of  the activity of Leonardo da Vinci is his attitude as an architect, idraulic and machine specialist to be involved in war systems –like for instance his armed vehicles, bombards and special multiple guns or war chariots. Leonardo took care of various problems regarding the organization of the city and its defense as well as the safe control of the land, taking care of various types of fortifications and hence the peculiarities of their configuration.
Till now we have a single monography approaching these themes and paying attention to the efforts made by other artists as Filarete, the Sangallo and Francesco di Giorgio, only a didactic installation in San Leo provides a few information about the subject pointing out the presence of Leonardo with the Valentino.

Recent contributions proposed in the context of ICOMAM (the military museums section of ICOM)

in Milano in 2016, still unpublished, demonstrated that Leonardo studied solution that in a few years were adopted by the knights of Malta in their fortifications in the Holy Land.

The possibility to provide informations about all this, thanks to some original drawings and materials appear to be important to open or reopen the studies about this peculiar aspect of the multingenious personality. Maps and cartography can offer informations about fortifications that need to be considered in relationship with the fast development of siege technique and field firearms in the period.  Leonardo as his contemporary co-actors of the time were all involved in the tragic but very innovative discoveries which caracterized the so called ‘Guerre d’Italia’, which brought in the peninsula Imperial and French armies. Thanks the presence of some original drawings by Leonardo and Michelangelo, no less than the treatises by the above recorded architects it will be possible to focus on the revolution in war art between 1470 and 1530 that led to a new model of warfare. For the exhibition some models will be prepared both with traditional ad new tecnological means bot more will be explained thanks the presence of peculiar artifacts in the collections of the Polo Museale of Emilia Romagna which includes 25 museums loanes will come from Windsor, Milano, Firenze, Roma and various collections both public and private.