2001.11.01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

500 YEARS AFTER IT WAS DESIGNED, LEONARDO'S BRIDGE GOES UP!

Norwegian artist, Vebjørn Sand, had a vision. He would build the "Golden Horn" bridge Leonardo da Vinci designed in 1502 but never built. On October 31, 2001, the ambitious project was unveiled spanning E-18, the highway between Oslo, Norway and Sweden in the township of Ås. It will stand as an historical monument to both the master artist of the Renaissance and the persistence of Norway's hottest contemporary artist.

The unveiling of the Leonardo Bridge was presided over by Norway's Queen Sonja and attended by a large crowd braving stormy weather to witness the event.

The project has intrigued architects for 40 years since its rediscovery in a set of Leonardo's documents in the late 1950's. In 1995, Vebjørn Sand, a painter also famous in Norway for his public projects, saw an exhibition of Leonardo's project designs including a tiny drawing of a sweeping pressed-bow bridge. He felt he was unearthing a lost treasure. Permanently smitten with the "eternal beauty" of the design, he took the idea of building the bridge immediately to the Norwegian Transportation Ministry. It took many years working with various architects and engineers to come up with a workable plan.

Vebjørn Sand hopes to build a Leonardo-style bridge on every continent. Sand sees the traditions of the Renaissance reinvigorating contemporary public art. Says Sand, "This (kind of) collaboration gives us insight into the function of the artist in public space. When (the artist), engineers, architects, businessmen and governmental departments work towards the same artistic goal, it creates a synergy in many different environments."

For further information please contact:
Melinda Iverson
International Press Relations
The Leonardo Project
206-285-7101/fax 206-285-7208
email: brickfish@msn.com

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