Leonardo da Vinci was an "immortal genius" who still has the power to surprise us today, Premier Giuseppe Conte said in presenting events marking the 500th anniversary of his death on Wednesday.
"The fascination and mystery of the multiform and eclectic genius of Leonardo is incredible," said Conte.
"He was a genius who still surprises us today, there is no discipline that did not see him involved, from the arts to philosophy to anatomy.
"He is an immortal, we can say.
"Leonardo is always evoked and is always present. He makes us proud, also as 'the Italian system'." Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli said at the Leonardo Celebrations 1519-2019, presented at the Galleria Colonna, that he was "one of the key figures of the Renaissance.
"Leonardo's personality is vertical because it draws its roots in culture but flies high and experiments, moved by a great curiosity.
"He also has a horizontal approach because he deals with almost everything, from hydraulics to physic and from military fortifications to bronze fusion.
Bonisoli said there would be "over 78 events all over Italy in all this year but I want to recall three in particular.
"The first, at the Royal Museums in Turin, is entitled 'Leonardo da Vinci: Drawing the Future'; the second is at the Academy Galleries in Venice; and the third, which has just opened at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome.
"I'd like to stress how Leonardo invented science before science because he was a scientist before the scientific method had been invented".
Agriculture Minister Gian Marco Centinaio said a "Leonardo 500 app" would be ready for all the events taking place across Italy this year.
"We have decided to create a Leonardo 500 app to monitor and make known all the initiatives on Leonardo, also to all our own tourists." He said it would be "in several languages and will show addresses and web sites where you can get information." Interior Minister Matteo Salvini quipped that "we are working to get the Mona Lisa back from the Louvre".
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