Sometime between the mid-1470s and his death in 1519, Leonardo da Vinci sketched a horse. On the same page, he jotted down his thoughts on a famous bronze stallion he'd admired in Pavia, likely capturing the moment he dreamed up the equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza that he would spend years planning and never complete.
Toward the end of the 16th century, a collector cut the page apart, and the two halves began very different journeys. The drawing eventually found its way to Windsor Castle, while the words landed in Milan, and for some 400 years, the horse and the thought behind it sat in separate countries, unable to explain each other.
Now they're back on the same page — digitally, at least. On June 8, 2026, Museo Galileo in Florence, together with the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Embassy of Italy in London, launched Leonardotheka, a free online platform that reunites roughly 3,500 pages of Leonardo's manuscripts for the first time since the late 16th century, undoing one of the century’s most consequential cut-and-paste jobs.
“His work embodies the unity of art and science, imagination and observation, creativity and reason. Therefore, projects such as Leonardotheka have such a crucial importance that extends well beyond academic research,” Fabio Cassese, Italy's ambassador to the U.K., said in a press release.
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