RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Portraying Leonardo da Vinci or World War II in a video game is challenging game developers to mix fun with facts while academics hope this growing genre will get players more interested in history. Gary Keith Brubaker, a lecturer in game study at The Guildhall at SMU in Texas, said historical games always have to try to balance accuracy and fun. "Just as movies about the past adapt the story to medium, so do games. However as limited as this history is... Read Full Story
RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters Life!) - Portraying Leonardo da Vinci or World War II in a video game is challenging game developers to mix fun with facts while academics hope this growing genre will get players more interested in history. Gary Keith Brubaker, a lecturer in game study at The Guildhall at SMU in Texas, said historical games always have to try to balance accuracy and fun. "Just as movies about the past adapt the story to medium, so do games. However as limited as this history... Read Full Story
Cities around the country are in da Vinci mode with shows about Leonardo da Vinci's art and inventions. In New York, "Leonardo Da Vinci's Workshop: Inventor + Artist + Dreamer," opens Nov. 20 at the Discovery Times Square Exposition and runs through April 4. The show offers full-scale, interactive models of da Vinci's inventions, including his ideas for the airplane, automobile, robot knight and mechanical lion. In Baltimore, "Da Vinci — The Genius: A Traveling Exhibit" at the Maryland... Read Full Story
A Welsh town was on Wednesday hoping to enter the record books for creating the world's largest copy of Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, arguably the most famous painting in the world. Hundreds of Wrexham residents reproduced Da Vinci's famous enigmatic smile by painting 82 vinyl tiles to produce a massive portrait measuring 240 square metres. The giant artwork, which is 50 times the size of the original, will be scrutinised by Guinness World Records at the town's Eagles Meadow shopping centre... Read Full Story
Art experts believe they have identified a new Leonardo da Vinci — in part by examining a fingerprint on the canvas. Peter Paul Biro, a Montreal-based forensic art expert, said Tuesday that a fingerprint on what was presumed to be a 19th-century German painting of a young woman has convinced art experts that it's actually a da Vinci. Canadian-born art collector Peter Silverman bought "Profile of the Bella Principessa" at the Ganz gallery in New York on behalf of an anonymous Swiss collector... Read Full Story
Art experts believe they have identified a new Leonardo da Vinci — in part by examining a fingerprint on the canvas. Peter Paul Biro, a Montreal-based forensic art expert, said Tuesday a fingerprint on what was presumed to be a 19th-century German painting of a young woman has convinced art experts that it's actually a da Vinci. Biro said Canadian-born art collector Peter Silverman bought "La Bella Principessa" at auction in 1997 for about $19,000. One London art dealer now says it's worth... Read Full Story
PARIS (Reuters Life!) - Security guards roaming the Louvre museum at night encounter African masquerades, a ghostly dancer in a scuba diving mask, an equestrian statue that makes baby noises and crazed carnival kings armed with rubber ducks. No, this is not the demented plot of a proposed sequel to Hollywood special effects blockbuster "Night at the Museum." The world famous Louvre really is coming alive at night for an innovative show called "Babysitting Petit Louis," performed by a cast of... Read Full Story
PANO LEFKARA, Cyprus (Reuters Life!) - An ancient Cypriot craft reputed to feature in Leonardo da Vinci's painting of "The Last Supper" is getting a new lease of life. Lefkaritiko lacemaking, an intricate form of needlework passed down from generation to generation is expected to be declared a heritage item by UNESCO, the United Nations agency responsible for the protection and promotion of culture. "This particular lacemaking is passed on from mother to daughter, and the young girls start... Read Full Story
BEIJING (Reuters) - For centuries, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" and her enigmatic smile have inspired as much speculation as admiration. Now she's ready to answer questions -- in Mandarin. A digital, interactive version of the renowned 16th century painting is one of 61 high-tech replicas breathing life into classical and ancient art works in the "World Classic Interactive Arts Exhibition" which opened in Beijing last week. These recreations of works by old masters and renowned modern... Read Full Story
BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - For centuries, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" and her enigmatic smile have inspired as much speculation as admiration. Now she's ready to answer questions -- in Mandarin. A digital, interactive version of the renowned 16th century painting is one of 61 high-tech replicas breathing life into classical and ancient art works in the "World Classic Interactive Arts Exhibition" which opened in Beijing last week. These recreations of works by old masters and renowned... Read Full Story
