Who we are

Artes Mechanicae is a research team dedicated to the study of the history of science and technology, characterized by an interdisciplinary approach which integrates traditional historical and graphical methods with instruments of analysis, classification and visualization which have been borrowed from engineering and I.T.

The activities carried out by Artes Mechanicae are directed by an international scientific committee made up of specialists from various fields including history and humanities, science and engineering. These specialists promote the results of their research in congresses and workshops.

Artes Mechanicae promotes techno-scientific culture via the design realization of exhibitions, museum consults, scientific instruments and historical mechanical devices restoration, editorial projects, models of machines and instruments faithfully reconstructed from a philological point of view.

Direction

Andrea Bernardoni

Andrea Bernardoni
Andrea Bernardoni completed his PhD in History of Science at the University of Florence. He has concerned himself with the History of Technology for many years at the Institute of the History of Science (Galileo Museum).  He was the curator of sections of important exhibitions dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci such asLeonardo, l’acqua e il Rinascimento (Milan 2004), The mind of Leonardo (Florence 2006, Tokio 2007, Debrecen 2007, San José (USA) 2008, Rome 2009), Leonardo and the art of Sculptor (Atlanta 2009, Los Angeles 2010); Les Reves Mecaniques de Léonard de Vinci (Rombas 2008); Leonard de Vinci et la France (Amboise 2009); Léonard de Vinci, "Romorantin, le projet oublié" (Romorontin 2010); Esplosioni fusioni trasmutazioni. Il monumento a Francesco Sforza e le arti chimiche in Leonardo (Milan 2013). He won the first prize for the section scientific documentaries at the film festival “vedere la Scienza”  (Window of Science) (Milan-London 2007) with the 3D animation film “The colossus of Leonardo” (Il colosso di Leonardo). In 2010 he created and co-ordinated for the Institute of History of Science in Florence, the numerical simulation of the melting of the “Monument to Francesco Sforza” designed but not carried out by Leonardo. He is the author of numerous publications on the History of Science and Renaissance Technology including the essays published in 2013: De re metallica and Il tramonto del Medioevo, in the volume Il contributo italiano alla storia della tecnica, Treccani Encyclopaedia,  Rome.

Alexander Neuwahl

Alexander Neuwahl
Alexander Neuwahl 

is a professional working in the field of planning and communications. He has been working with the Leonardo da Vinci Museum since 1996 on the creation of materials for the widespread of scientific and historical knowledge. In 2002 he began to collaborate with the museum for the planning of new exhibitions and the creation of new multimedia pathways, leading and co-ordinating a team of creative experts to support the radical process of innovation undertaken by the museum and still in progress today.
He has planned and contributed to the realization of exhibitions and sections of exhibitions with regards to Leonardo at national and international levels: Il Codice Atlantico di Leonardo da Vinci nell'edizione Hoepli 1894-1904 (Rome 2005); Leonardo da Vinci, Heinrich Schickhardt. und die Tech-nik ihrer Zeit (Stuttgart 2008); Les Reves Mecaniques de Léonard de Vinci (Rombas 2008); Leonard de Vinci et la France (Amboise 2009); Leonardo Artefice. Dal disegno alle macchine (Verone 2010); Léonard de Vinci, "Romorantin, le projet oublié" (Romorontin 2010), Une idee, mille machines - De Leonard de Vinci a Jean Errard (Nancy 2013).
He participated to many international conferences actively promoting the use of three-dimensional reconstruction techniques as means for historical research.

Scientific committee

Giovanni Bianchini

Giovanni Bianchini

Giovanni Bianchini is a researcher at the Institute of applied Physics “Nello Carrara” of the National Council of Research where he carries out experimental activities in the field of optical instruments and dispositive: in particular in the field of  FTS Fourier Transformation spectrometers. In this field, apart from the development and the characterization of the instrumentation via laboratory measurements, he has also taken part in numerous measurement campaigns in which the abovementioned instrumentation was installed and operated with the aim of characterizing the chemical and radiation properties of the Earth’s atmosphere. These campaigns were carried out in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, at high altitudes and in tropical regions. In addition to his main work, He carries out the work of in fields of optical research such as high precision laser spectroscopy, laser interferometry for metrological applications and the development of laser sources.
In 2002 he collaborated with the Leonardo da Vinci Museum as a consultant and for a research convention between CNR and the Vinci Town Council, as referent for the problems concerning Physics (Optics, Mechanics, Fluid Dynamics etc )

Fanny Kieffer

Fanny Kieffer

Fanny Kieffer Fanny Kieffer is a Historian of Art, Philosophy and Renaissance literature. She deals with Italian Renaissance Art, history of the collections, history of the artistic, literary and scientific  institutions and history of science in France and in Italy from the 15th Century to the 18th Century. She has taught History of Art at the François Rabelais University of Tours, and has carried out research for the commissions of various European institutions such as La Sapienza University in Rome, the Cini Foundation of Venice and the Warburg Institute in London.
She has also organized exhibitions and events in the field of formation. She has worked as a translator and interpreter.
Over the years she has worked on an important body of research concerning the complex of the “botteghe” of the Uffizi Gallery in the Florence of the 16th Century. It was published as her thesis for her PhD.

Gianni Micheli

Gianni Micheli

Gianni Micheli Gianni Micheli was professor of History of Science at L’Università degli studi in Milan from 1969 to 2008, first as Lecturer and then as Associate Professor and finally as Professor. He has carried out research on the origins of Modern Science, with studies dedicated to the works of Descartes and Galileo. He has also carried out research on the Italian scientific tradition, on the relationship between Philosophy and Science, on Ancient Mechanics with studies dedicated in particular to  the concept of the machine, and single machines such as automata and augers.
He edited the volume of the History of Italy Einaudi, Annals III (Turin 1980) on the development of Science in Italy from the Renaissance to the present.
He has published The Origin of the concept of the machine, Olschki (Florence 1995).

Davide Russo

Davide Russo

Davide Russo Davide Russo is a researcher for the department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Bergamo and a teacher of methods and instruments for the product and process innovation and industrial design. He obtained his doctorate degree from the University of Florence in “the planning and construction of machines” with the thesis “From the multidisciplinary nature of Renaissance Engineers to the management of the complexity in innovation processes and technological forecasting”.
He has also collaborated with the Leonardo da Vinci museum for the definition of the contents of the museum rooms dedicated to building site machines and Renaissance textile machines: “ The evolutive Triz models as support instruments for the History of Science and Technical researchers. The building site of S. Maria del Fiore (university thesis).
He has also collaborated in the creation of the website Leonardo Digitale - (www.leonardodigitale.com).
Since 2007 he has been the scientific collaborator for the project for the realization of the first volume of “ Leonardo Glossary. Nomenclature of machines of Madrid and Atlantic, edited by Paola Manni and Marco Biffi (Florence, Olschki 2011).
He has developed an innovative method for the support of research studies on history of science and Technical based on the evolutive classification of machines using the TRIZ method.

Giorgio Strano

Giorgio Strano

Giorgio Strano Giorgio Strano is the curator of the collections at the Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence. He carries out research and divulgation in the field of History of Astronomy.
He has published several articles in specialized Italian and foreign journals: Nuncius, L’Astronomie, Hacta Historica Astronomiae, La Nuova Informazione Bibliografica, Automata, Giornale diAstronomia, Sterne und Weltraum.
He has collaborated on exhibitions on the history of science and astronomy: Scientists at court (2001), One thousand years of Science in Italy (2001), the Myth of Europe (2002), Vitrum (2004), macchina Mundi (2004), The relativity of Galileo and Einstein (2005), Galileo’s telescope (2008-2009). He is the general editor of the collana Scientific Instruments and Collections, edited by Brill.

Lab

Michel Campana

Michel Campana

Michel Campana  is a professor of mechanics at the Technical College of Poitiers and taught automotive mechanics and manufacture of mechanical parts for the industry in various institutes. During educational activities he studied and reproduced clock systems and gear trains, specializing in the construction and restoration of monumental clocks using techniques similar to those used for machining metals in the fifteenth century. In January 2013 he participated at CESR in Tours to a conference on the measurement of time, where he presented the reconstruction of the wrought iron monumental astronomical clock currently in operation in Chinon.
Since a long time he devotes himself to the study of the mechanics of Leonardo da Vinci. He reconstructed a model of "the mechanical lion" currently on display at Clos Lucé in Amboise. He also made replicas of scientific and measurement instruments, displayed in the exhibition "Une idée, mille machines - De Léonard de Vinci a Jean Errard" (Nancy 2013) and presented at the international conference "Leonardo da Vinci. Arte della pace, arte della guerra" (Firenze, 2013).

Alberto Fabiani

Alberto Fabiani

Four years as a designer, assembler and maintenance expert of standard or prototype production equipment and lines at Thecna- Th  Automazione srl in Terranuova Bracciolini (www.thautomazione.it)
Two years as maintenance expert and optimizer of production impianti at Giusto Manetti Battiloro S.p.A, gold company in Florence (www.manetti.it)
Four years as maintenance expert and optimizer of the production system at Home products Italiana S.p.A, Whitehall Italia spa – Wyeth Group in Montevarchi (www.Wyeth.com)
Five years as artisan in the industrial field: optimizing production cycles, assembly and/or maintenance of automized systems for various production or packaging types (gold, electronics, leather and food sectors).
He has worked as a mechanical maintenance expert at a iron and steel industry for four years.

Jean-Louis Pironio

Jean-Louis Pironio

Jean-Louis Pironio works in the field of information and communication. He is also skilled photographer.  Together with his father Jean-Pierre, Jean-Louis Pironio has taken part in several projects and exhibitions in which Artes Mechanichae was involved since 2008. He was a member of the organization team of the exhibition Les Rêves mécaniques de Léonard de Vinci (Rombas 2008), and coordinated in 2010 the making of the ½ scale model of the anti-friction system of the monumental bell “La Mutte” (Metz cathedral - France) displayed in the Museo leonardiano in Vinci. Jean-Louis Pironio then put his manual skills to good use and built several Leonardo da Vinci mechanical systems for the exhibition “Romorantin, le projet oublié” (Romorantin – 2010). In the framework of the exhibition “Une idée, 1000 machines- De Léonard de Vinci à Jean Errard” (Mission Renaissance - Nancy 2013) he was the first one to build models of machines designed by the 16th century French engineer and fortification specialist Jean Errard de Bar-Le-Duc. His latest completed work is a scale 1 functional odometer designed by Leonardo da Vinci around 1495 (Codex Atlanticus f.1.r). This odometer will be displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sept 20, 2015, during the conference entitled “L’oeil de l’oiseau” given by Professor Pascal Brioist. Jean-Louis Pironio is currently building a model of the printing press invented by Johanness Gutenberg.

Alberto Rosin

Alberto Rosin

Thanks to his technical studies at the Leonardo da Vinci institute in Florence and his varied experience, he has always worked in the field of precision mechanics. He has collaborated with the famous modern lutherie laboratory in Florence Giniski for several years.
He is a musician and composer. Since 2001 he has taken part  in the role of musician in the Historical parades in Florence, and recently in the historical group of the Contrada dell’Alfiere of Bagno a Ripoli (Florence).

Iliana Toti Manetti

Iliana Toti Manetti

Iliana Toti Manetti is stylist and fashion designer at Manetti Moda Italia.

She has collaborated to the designing and realization of the costumes for important theater production as: Natale in Casa Cupiello e AH (Antonio Latella's theater company “Stabile Mobile”); Re Lear (directed by Michele Placido and Francesco Manetti); Il borghese gentiluomo (directed by Francesco Manetti and Simone Martini).

Since 2014 she collaborates with Artes Mechanicae as expert in sartorial technique for fabric and leather workings.