The ambitious Codex Atlanticus project, realized for the occasion of Leonardo da Vinci’s 500th death anniversary and published in April 2019, has been a remarkable success to date.
The application, installed on an interactive totem at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan, is used daily by the visitors of the museum, while the web version has spread internationally, with most users accessing the page from France, USA, Italy and China.
On the one hand, the website is particularly interesting for art lovers or people curious and interested in the subject, but on the other hand the project is also used as a research tool by academic personalities who make use of its valuable educational and research potential.
There are many fields of study that benefit from the Codex’s content, ranging from more technical subjects such as information technology and data visualization to those concerning the conservation and digitalization of artistic and cultural heritage, like science, philology and history of art.
Thanks to this project the academic world can now enjoy easy access to Leonardo’s precious work that has been largely inaccessible until recently.
In addition to a wide variety of events that have been hosted by The Visual Agency to promote it, the project was presented at Harvard University, at the Digital Culture Seminar of the University of Pisa, at the Fundacion Cerezales Antonino y Cinia in Leon, Spain and at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan.
The website has won several awards and official prizes: in rapid succession, it was awarded at the FWA Awards as Site of the Day, at the CSS Design Awards as Site of the Day, Best UI Design, Best UX Design, and Best Innovation and obtained an Honorable Mention at the Awwwards. It has also been included in the longlist of the renowned Information Is Beautiful Awards, and is currently running for several other awards on an international level.
The media has also paid particular attention to the project. Several national and international publications have reported about the project, including internationally renowned publications such as Corriere Della Sera, Novum, Web Designer, Open Culture and My Modern Met.
