SAN JOSE, CA.- The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and Planetarium presents the exhibit “Leonardo DaVinci: Artist, Scientist, Mystic” on view until July 31. Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519) typifies the art, science, and spiritual yearnings of the Italian Renaissance. During this vibrant transitional period Western Europe was reawakening to the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancient World, transmitted through reexamining what had been preserved in the West, through Constantinople and the Byzantine Roman East, and through Islamic science, art, and literature. The result of this fusion was the Renaissance, which ushered in the modern West.

Leonardo’s work was a vital nexus of connection that links the modern world with ancient civilizations and cultures. As a scientist and inventor, DaVinci was inspired by the writings of the Roman writer Vitruvius to create working machines, and dreams of those not yet possible. As an artist, Leonardo pioneered many striking techniques, and created some of the most remarkable works of his or any other age. Spiritually, DaVinci’s deeply held Humanism was based on the ancient concepts of order in the Cosmos, with the human person as the microcosm of this universal order. He understood the world as a revelation of truth in symmetry, geometry, and proportion. He lived by the conviction that the human spirit was capax universi, capable of all things, sharing the Rosicrucian worldview, part of the Primordial Tradition.

Leonardo DaVinci: Artist, Scientist, Mystic will explore these aspects of this great man’s life and work chronologically. The visitor will glimpse the stages of Leonardo’s life and career, through: Scale model reproductions of DaVinci’s models and inventions, examination of details of his enigmatic paintings, books and artistic materials from the Rosicrucian Research Library, explanations of some of Leonardo’s most intriguing designs, DaVinci as a nexus between the ancient world and ours and audio visual presentation of DaVinci’s life and times.