Our Story Live: Realising the Da Vinci dream with Mephisto

Next date: Thursday, 28 August 2025 | 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM

Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most prolific inventors in history, dreamed up inventions across a variety of fields.

Our Story Live: Realising the Da Vinci Dream showcases the rich history of the Mephisto Army tank from the First World War.

The iconic resemblance to Da Vinci's wooden war machine shows his inventions and discoveries are even more relevant today.

About Mephisto

The concept of a self-propelled, armoured, combat vehicle has existed from at least medieval times – if not earlier.

However, transformation of concept into reality had to wait until the industrial wars of the first half of the 20th century. The first such vehicles were armoured cars, powered by internal combustion engines but wheeled vehicles lacked the mobility to deal with boggy soils or where the ground was littered with obstacles and cratered by massed artillery.

This led to the development of a new armoured combat vehicle in which the wheels were replaced by caterpillar tracks. We now know this sort of vehicle as a tank. The first tanks appeared on the battlefields of the First World War.

One of these early tanks can be found at the Queensland Museum, South Bank. It is the sole surviving example of a German A7V Sturmpanzerwagen. Most people know it better by the name that the Germans gave it: ‘Mephisto’. This is its story.

After the talk, enjoy morning tea before exploring the exhibition, Da Vinci Machines.

Free - bookings essential.

Image credit: Image courtesy of Greg Czechura..

The museum is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.