After Leonardo: Contemporary Artists Honor da Vinci at Museo del Novecento

The Leonardo 500 celebrations in Milan, marking the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, extended beyond 2019 with the opening of the Gallerie Leonardo at the Museo della Scienza e della Tecnica. As part of the city's cultural program, the call Milano|Cultura led to the exhibition After Leonardo at the Museo del Novecento, featuring works by two contemporary artists, Ettore Favini (born 1974 in Cremona) and Eugenio Tibaldi (born 1977 in Alba), who won the competition ex-aequo. Their works were subsequently acquired by the museum. Favini's video installation Atlantico, inspired by the Codice Atlantico, explores water through multiple landscapes, evoking Leonardo's sfumato and atmospheric effects. Tibaldi's Giardino abusivo addresses sustainability by creating a vegetable garden using a water purification system from recycled water, growing among broken televisions, mattresses, and other discarded objects. The garden emerges from vintage refrigerators and plastic bottles, with tomatoes and salad reclaiming abandoned items, suggesting a possible new balance where nature prevails over human waste. The installation is placed along the ascending spiral of the Museo del Novecento, creating a surprise effect.