Exploring Leonardo’s studio from your iPhone10/01/12

We were approached by Euro RSCG on behalf of Credit Suisse (sponsors of the Exhibition) to produce a vision of Da Vinci’s studio, having spent weeks researching (and subsequently rediscovering a love of) renaissance period art for Acqua panna, we were very excited to be thrown back into the era.

The job was to consist of two distinct parts; we were to create a print only image as well as a 360 panoramic studio. The design of the studio was carefully constructed using a combination of old archival drawings, existing periodical buildings, descriptions in literature, as well as a little creative imagination. We also had a historian on hand to approve all elements before they were constructed ensuring that the final rendering was as close as possible to how it could have been.

Once we had the studio constructed the task was to export a seamless 360 degree panorama to form part of an iphone app which would allow users to take a virtual tour of the location. We also generated some 3d models of sculptures and other elements in the studio which the user can select and move around to explore and learn more about.

The exhibition itself is a sight to behold, bringing together over half of Da Vinci’s surviving paintings. As well as two questionable offerings thought to be produced by him, but still under analysis from critics and scholars, the first is Virgin and Child the second Christ. Luke Syson, Curator of the National Gallery explains just how difficult the exhibition has been to pull together:

“We’ve had to do two things. One is to persuade people of the scholarly merits of this show – were it just about the name, were it just about creating a blockbuster experience, I don’t think we would have been as successful as we (hopefully) have been. People don’t lend pictures by Leonardo lightly, and as there are so few of them they are incredibly important for each institution that owns them, as emblems of the particular galleries that contain them. Discussions have taken years – quite literally – in some cases.”

The exhibition is on until the 5th of Feburary 2012, and the interactive app is available on iPhone or Andoid and you can see the entire project here.