5.0 out of 5 stars
An iconic, inherently fascinating, and very highly recommended read. May 9, 2010
By Able Greenspan, Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
This review is from: Leonardo da Vinci's Musical Gifts and Jewish Connections (Paperback)
There has been a great deal of scholarship associated with the study of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting of 'The Last Supper'. It has been the subject of musical compositions, films, and books -- perhaps the most controversial of which was the Dan Brown novel 'The Da Vinci Code'. Author, musician and musicologist Giovanni Maria Pala discovered a 12-measure musical score composed for the organ and created by the positions of the bread, hands, and fruit depicted in the painting, and in the process of discovery found Hebrew letters hidden in the spaces separating the apostolic figures around the table and which offer a prayer to the world. Still another issue revealed by Pala is that the face of St. John was not a portrait of Mary Magdalene as metaphysical 'scholarship' would have it, but rather is the image of Leonardo's mother, Caterina. An iconic, inherently fascinating, and very highly recommended 128-page read, "Leonardo Da Vinci's Musical Gifts and Jewish Connections" is enhanced with a bibliography, a DVD, and an index.

KUSI News - Good Morning San Diego coverage
Leonardo Da Vinci remains one of the most fascinating people in history. Now his visions and ideas are coming to the San Diego Air and Space Museum. KUSI Dave Scott was there to check it out. Watch video

San Diego Downtown News, February 2009
All In the Name
Leonardo da Vinci is properly referred to as Leonardo. He was from Vinci, which lies in Italy’s Tuscany region, having been born there in 1452 – Leonardo is thus a sufficient handle. We thought you might want to know that before you dropped in on “The Da Vinci Experience,” showing through next Jan. 3 at The San Diego Air and Space Museum. Forget the errant title – the show’s a cool thing, as it features replicas and models of the mechanical devices Leo designed, along with reproductions of 11 of his most famous paintings. He applied his knowledge of mechanics to military and civil engineering works and dedicated himself to the study of anatomy, biology, mathematics and physics. A group of Florentine artisans have spent the last half-century studying his original notes and drawings; this exhibit is a product of all that. The museum is located at 2001 Pan American Plaza in Balboa Park. $9.75-$24.75, free for kids under 3. (619) 234-8291 or www.sandiegoairandspace.org

The Da Vinci Experience, February 26, 2008
Vegas Entertainment by Ed Bruce

Da Vinci's visions come calling
New Aerospace Museum to showcase replicas painstakingly created from Italian
master's drawings
By Edgar Sanchez - Bee Staff Writer

Fourteen months ago, the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau received an intriguing phone call. The caller asked: Would... continue

Da Vinci's Inventions On Display In Sacramento
by Cody Stark

(CBS13) SACRAMENTO From helicopters, to robots, to a calculator Leonardo Da Vinci's inventions were way ahead of their time. Now at the aerospace museum you can ... continue

The Da Vinci Exhibit visits Taiwan!
Click here for more info

Palm Springs Life, December 2006
–The Da Vinci Experience stimulates all the senses at Palm Springs air Museum, which transformed a hangar into 15th century Italy for the exhibition's U.S. debut. [It is] more enterainment and educational, not curatorial. This exhibit's strength [is] in the interactivity between the visitor and the machines [so that kids and adults] can come to grips with how gears, [pulleys, and other devices do their] work.

Westways, November/December 2006
“Five worth the drive. No. 2: The Da Vinci Experience. Visitors step into an Italian-style piazza to enter the exhibition galleries, which highlight a few dozen full-size and interactive machines…all based on Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th-century drawings and notes.”

Palm Springs Life, October 2006
“Gaining an understanding of the thinking behind the famous artist whose inventions out numbered his paintings is best accomplished not by reading his 16th century codices or going to a Ron Howard movie, but rather by looking at his inventions. Perhaps the Da Vinci Experience will inspire more creative minds.”

The Desert Sun, November 3, 2006
“The smell of burning wood wafting through the air. Fall-colored leaves rustling under the footsteps of residents and tourists. A scene from 21st century Palm Springs? For the next five months it sure will be. The Palm Springs Air Museum has been transformed from a World War II aircraft showroom o a 15th-centruy Tuscan street scene as working models of Leonardo da Vinci’s mechanical flight and military inventions go on display.”

www.artknowledgenews.com, Posted November 3, 2006.
Experiencing Leonardo at the Palm Springs Air Museum. In the last few years, the world has rediscovered Leonardo da Vinci through a major work of popular fiction. But the reality of Leonardo’s life is that even the best fiction could not convincingly portray his multifaceted personality or full y document his achievements in the worlds of engineering, design, art, aviation, and construction. The Da Vinci Experience will be at the Palm Springs Air Museum from Nov. 3, 2006 to March 25, 2007.

Hemisphere Magazine-Novmber 2006
³See machines designed by Leonardo da Vinci and built by modern artisans in Florence.

Image Magazine, September 2006
The Palm Springs Air Museum, which has one of the weorld's largest collections of   War II warplanes, rare and original combat photography, memorabilia and uniforms of WWII, will host this stunning international tribute to da Vinci's genius through March 24, 2007. It has drawn raves.