February 1, 2026
Renaissance vibes, 5G gripes
Drawings of the elements of CMS detector, in the style of Leonardo da Vinci
CERN’s Da Vinci‑style science doodles wow — then mobile meltdown
TLDR: CERN posted da Vinci‑style drawings of its CMS detector, thrilling viewers with science‑meets‑art flair. The comments split between praise, a nerdy debate over drawing style, frustration with the clunky mobile gallery, and confusion about who the actual artist is—proof that beauty, credit, and UX all matter.
CERN just dropped a gallery of Leonardo da Vinci–inspired drawings of parts of the CMS detector — a giant machine that spots tiny particles — and the internet did what it does best: swoon, nitpick, and roast. The art is undeniably gorgeous, with one viewer calling it “amazingly beautiful” and immediately pivoting to a hot‑take: if these sketches used isometric (think blueprint‑style) instead of perspective drawing, they’d be even more faithful to Leonardo. Cue a mini art‑history debate in a physics forum — you love to see it.
Then, the vibe shift: a brutal user experience clapback. One comment summed it up with the kind of sting you feel through the screen: “Cool art, awful mobile experience.” People tried to zoom in on the details and got hit by a 2009‑era slideshow on a 2026 phone. Renaissance art, meet rage scroll. Meanwhile, another commenter asked the question that should be obvious but isn’t: who actually drew these? The page credits photographer Sergio Cittolin and says CC BY 4.0, but the artist behind the sketches isn’t clearly labeled. In short: the science is epic, the art is dreamy, the attribution is murky, and the UI is… not it. The community is torn between appreciating the vibe and demanding better credit — and a site that doesn’t fight back when you pinch‑zoom.
Key Points
- •CERN’s Document Server hosts a CMS Collection item titled “Drawings of the elements of CMS detector, in the style of Leonardo da Vinci.”
- •The record contains a total of 40 images with multiple size options (Small, Medium, Large, Original) and a slideshow view.
- •Sergio Cittolin is credited as the photographer for the collection.
- •The item is dated 01/10/2014 and carries keywords including CMS and da Vinci.
- •Content is licensed under CC-BY-4.0 with © 2009–2026 CERN indicated, and the page provides links to Information, References, Discussion, and Files.