On the 10th of April 2019, the Grand Opening of the Leonardo Horse Project was held at the Snai San Siro Racecourse. During the evening, the 13 Design Horses decorated by international artists and designers, selected by the curator Cristina Morozzi, were unveiled. Placed in a semicircle around the majestic equestrian statue designed by Leonardo, they were the expected protagonists and simultaneously the suggestive setting for the evening show. During the evening, the Horse of Leonardo became a canvas on which a spectacular video mapping dedicated to the history of sculpture was projected. Music was the main event during the second part of the evening: in the extraordinary setting of the Racecourse decorated for the party, Lele Sacchi’s performance was inserted back to back between Marcelo Burlon and Loco Dice.

Leonardo, the first designer in history, creates a bond with his contemporary colleagues, selected by the artistic curator of the project, Cristina Morozzi, based on their figurative approach. The Horse of Leonardo thus became a source of inspiration for thirteen designers who created and reinterpreted equestrian reproductions in a shared artistic project.

The artists involved in the project are: Andrea Mancuso from Analogia Project, whose poetics are rich in historical references; Markus Benesch with his psychedelic inspiration; Matteo Cibic, eclectic and imaginative; Serena Confalonieri, who shortens the distance between fashion and design; Simone Crestani, glass artist; Daniele Papuli, master in the use of paper; Vito Nesta, illustrator of dream worlds; Elena Salmistraro with his fairy-tale language; Mario Trimarchi, delicately portrayed artist and Marcel Wanders, suggestively gothic. In addition to them, three designers dressed the Horse: Antonio Marras with his fabrics, the colourful Marcelo Burlon and Roberto Fragata with their contemporary imprint.

The multimedia exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci and the representation of the Horse”, held in the spaces of the ground floor of the Secondary Stand, in front of the large equestrian statue, is in response to the desire to tell the general public the story of some of Leonardo da Vinci’s achievements with a common theme: the Horse.

The exhibition, open to the public until 10 November 2019, curated by Gabriele Mazzi, Scientific Director of the Museum of the Battle of Anghiari, narrates an important page of art showing the workings out on the proportions and anatomy of the Horse that Leonardo carried out in a period between 1482 and 1512: studies, sketches and preparatory cartoons of the wall painting never done by Leonardo on the Battle of Anghiari are, in fact, the principle of a story that touches some aspects of the artist’s personality and his training.

Through the iconographic support and a dedicated multimedia video, the studies carried out by the Genius reveal his strong sensitivity to nature.

The project is completed with an Augmented Reality App that allows the public to identify the horses located in the city, activating exclusive content on the relationship between Leonardo and the artists who made the reproductions.

For those who are at the Racecourse, the App shows the Horse of Leonardo in an innovative and immersive way. Inside, there are contents dedicated to the statue’s history, its curiosities and studies made by Leonardo on the equestrian figure.

There is also an entire section dedicated to children: an interactive treasure hunt, revealing the incredible inventions of Leonardo during a guided tour of the most beautiful places in the Racecourse