Notebooks (5 page)
Authors: Leonardo da Vinci,Irma Anne Richter,Thereza Wells
Tags: #History, #Fiction, #General, #European, #Art, #Renaissance, #Leonardo;, #Leonardo, #da Vinci;, #1452-1519, #Individual artists, #Art Monographs, #Drawing By Individual Artists, #Notebooks; sketchbooks; etc, #Individual Artist, #History - Renaissance, #Renaissance art, #Individual Painters - Renaissance, #Drawing & drawings, #Drawing, #Techniques - Drawing, #Individual Artists - General, #Individual artists; art monographs, #Art & Art Instruction, #Techniques
The rapid development of Leonardo’s anatomical studies is most likely to have been caused by his meeting with the brilliant young anatomist Marcantonio della Torre at the University of Pavia around 1510. Little is known of their collaboration and Marcantonio died the following year, but it is evident that his influence on Leonardo provided a catalyst for a coherence of vision in Leonardo’s work. The drawings which survive, now at Windsor, reveal a carefully laid out technique of descriptive visual beauty. The clarity of the drawings is staggering when one takes into account the relatively primitive and messy conditions of dissecting a corpse. It was during this time that Leonardo devised the first exploded diagrams to show, for example, the complex layering and structure of the muscles of the arm and neck.
Leonardo’s departure from Milan at the end of 1511 was caused by the collapse of the French occupation of the city, and his next known residence was in Rome at the end of 1513. Giovanni de’ Medici had been elected Pope Leo X. His brother, Giuliano de’ Medici, head of the papal forces, established Leonardo and his household in the Belvedere wing of the Vatican and became his patron. Leonardo travelled around the region carrying out tasks for Giuliano and the Pope, including studies of a harbour and plans for draining the Pontine marshes. He was working on his anatomical studies and continued with his notes for his treatise on painting. It was also a time when he carried out studies of convex and concave mirrors. Leonardo was deeply absorbed by the study of light as it affected all things and how we see them. The studies of rays of light from concave mirrors were part of a series of experiments with optics, lenses, and the
camera obscura
. The use of burning mirrors would have had a great practical use, of course, in heating things and Leonardo specifically mentions their use for dye factories where water could be boiled by this method. Notes from this period show he was working on creating a process for manufacturing parabolic mirrors.
camera obscura
. The use of burning mirrors would have had a great practical use, of course, in heating things and Leonardo specifically mentions their use for dye factories where water could be boiled by this method. Notes from this period show he was working on creating a process for manufacturing parabolic mirrors.
While living in Rome Leonardo appears to have had with him a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, or Mona Lisa (Paris, Louvre), the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a prominent Florentine. Although the painting was begun in around 1503/4, Leonardo appears to have kept it with him, never giving it to his patron. It seems that he grew attached to it, and continued to work on it for some years, until about 1516. The painting is a stunning example of the culmination of Leonardo’s artistic, philosophical, and intellectual development. The visual
sfumato
effect of blurred edges and ambiguous forms is also apparent in a more abstract way. Here, Leonardo has created a sort of primeval world in his landscape that has the same force of life as his sitter. The microcosm and macrocosm are interwoven and the unity of man with nature is completed.
sfumato
effect of blurred edges and ambiguous forms is also apparent in a more abstract way. Here, Leonardo has created a sort of primeval world in his landscape that has the same force of life as his sitter. The microcosm and macrocosm are interwoven and the unity of man with nature is completed.
It is not known exactly when an agreement was made, but in 1516 the 64-year-old Leonardo travelled to France to become the
paintre du Roy
to Francis I. He was granted a home at the chateau of Cloux near to the royal court at Amboise and enjoyed a privileged life as a highly admired addition to it. He continued to create entertaining displays for the court and devised a complex scheme of canals for a project for the great palace at Romorantin on the banks of the Saudre. In October 1517 he was visited by the Cardinal of Aragon, whose secretary, Antonio de Beatis, wrote about the visit (pp. 356-7). There is a sense of great respect for the old man, whose health by this time was deteriorating. On 2 May 1519, Leonardo died peacefully.
paintre du Roy
to Francis I. He was granted a home at the chateau of Cloux near to the royal court at Amboise and enjoyed a privileged life as a highly admired addition to it. He continued to create entertaining displays for the court and devised a complex scheme of canals for a project for the great palace at Romorantin on the banks of the Saudre. In October 1517 he was visited by the Cardinal of Aragon, whose secretary, Antonio de Beatis, wrote about the visit (pp. 356-7). There is a sense of great respect for the old man, whose health by this time was deteriorating. On 2 May 1519, Leonardo died peacefully.
It seems clear from his notebooks that Leonardo was attempting to outline an underlying science for all things. He sought its rules by finding the shared principles behind the varied phenomena of nature he investigated. However, he could not stop at the principles. He had a need to go beyond this to find all the variations he observed based on a multitude of effects. All details and variations in nature needed to be fully described, and understood. Only when every possible cause and effect had been studied could one come to a true understanding of how nature worked.
A task like this, which required a comprehensive understanding of all things, was ultimately doomed. There was really no way Leonardo could have succeeded and it seems he understood this. Throughout his writings one sees variations on a recurring note: ‘Tell me if anything was ever done?’ as if in the middle of one of his investigations he was aware that he could question a thing indefinitely. That he was unable to cease in his quest, the thousands of sheets that make up his notebooks testify. They are witness to an unerring commitment to knowledge, and no other body of writing equals their range in exploring man and the world around him.
The heavens often rain down the richest gifts on human beings, naturally, but sometimes with lavish abundance bestow upon a single individual beauty, grace and ability, so that, whatever he does, every action is so divine that he distances all other men, and clearly displays how his genius is the gift of God and not an acquirement of human art. Men saw this in Leonardo da Vinci.
Vasari,
Lives of the Artists
Lives of the Artists
NOTE ON THE TEXT
IRMA RICHTER’s selection from the writings of Leonardo was first published in 1952. The selection is based on the translations of Leonardo’s writings into English carried out by her father, Jean Paul Richter, and published in two volumes as
The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci
in 1883. J. P. Richter’s work was the first comprehensive translation of Leonardo into English and was monumental in its scale and contribution to Leonardo scholarship. Some five thousand manuscript sheets written backwards from right to left (because Leonardo was left-handed) were reviewed. The translations were arranged by subject matter, creating an organized format from which to approach the thousands of disparate sheets. Irma Richter’s selection was also helped in part by Edward MacCurdy’s translations of
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
, published in 1938.
The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci
in 1883. J. P. Richter’s work was the first comprehensive translation of Leonardo into English and was monumental in its scale and contribution to Leonardo scholarship. Some five thousand manuscript sheets written backwards from right to left (because Leonardo was left-handed) were reviewed. The translations were arranged by subject matter, creating an organized format from which to approach the thousands of disparate sheets. Irma Richter’s selection was also helped in part by Edward MacCurdy’s translations of
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
, published in 1938.
The present edition maintains this selection in its entirety. It provides an invaluable cross-section of Leonardo’s life and work and serves as both a solid introduction to Leonardo and a useful reference for the scholar. As the selection was made before the discovery of the Madrid Codices in 1967, those sheets are not represented. Richter’s selection from Leonardo’s engineering notes was representative of what was known at the time, but the Madrid studies of the
‘
elements of machines’ would undoubtedly have affected the present anthology had they been available. The commentary, references, notes, and index have all been updated, and the rest of the editorial material is new.
‘
elements of machines’ would undoubtedly have affected the present anthology had they been available. The commentary, references, notes, and index have all been updated, and the rest of the editorial material is new.
The manuscripts and codices from which the selection is taken are to be found in a handful of collections in Europe and the USA. Sources for each of the entries are to be found in the References to Manuscripts and Sources section at the back of the book, keyed by superscript number at the end of each passage in the text. An asterisk in the text refers to an editorial note in the Explanatory Notes (pp. 365-70).
Leonardo’s surviving drawings and manuscripts exist in various shapes and sizes and can be classified into six types: separate sheets, especially drawings for works of art, that have never been part of a bound volume; separate sheets that have later been inserted in bound volumes and either left in the volumes or removed and mounted separately (such as the Windsor drawings); notebooks or volumes bound by Leonardo that have survived more or less in original form; notebooks or volumes bound by Leonardo that have been rebound collectively, either in his lifetime or subsequently (such as the Forster Codices); pages from notebooks or volumes bound by Leonardo that have since been dismembered and mounted separately (such as the Leicester Codex); pages from notebooks or volumes bound by Leonardo that have been subsequently rebound in collections of miscellaneous sheets (such as the Codex Atlanticus and the Codex Arundel).
Leonardo’s intention to order his notes was never realized. The present organization groups together disparate notes on the same subject. The first three chapters deal with science and nature. In the fourth chapter are Leonardo’s notes for a treatise on painting. The fifth chapter contains some of his literary writings—tales and fables—and the sixth chapter gives reflections on life. The final chapter is devoted to references to Leonardo’s personal affairs and work which are arranged chronologically to create a biographical timeline.
The selection is thematic rather than chronological so that Leonardo’s interests, to which he would return again and again over the years, are given a coherence and sense of development. However, this system of organization tends to cloak Leonardo’s intellectual development and approach, especially his lateral way of thinking. The Introduction attempts to fill this gap by outlining his development as a thinker within the context of his life and the world in which he lived.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I could not have reached this place in my journey without Martin Kemp, who has been my Leonardo compass and to whom I owe so much. My husband, Francis Wells, has given me new viewpoints from which to study Leonardo as well as his deep support. My colleague, Marina Wallace, has provided me with the encouraging support of a fellow scholar. I am grateful to Carmen Bambach for allowing me to base the Leonardo chronology on her comprehensive work. The revisions and updates for this edition could not have been carried out without the enthusiastic and thorough efforts of Dafna Talmor and Julie Mazzone. My final thanks must go to my editor, Judith Luna, for her sharp focus, understanding nature, and endless patience.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Monographs and General WorksBrown, D. A.,
Leonardo da Vinci: Origins of a Genius
(New Haven and London, 1998).
Leonardo da Vinci: Origins of a Genius
(New Haven and London, 1998).
Chastel, A.,
Leonardo da Vinci: Studi e ricerche, 1952
-
1990
(Turin, 1995).
Leonardo da Vinci: Studi e ricerche, 1952
-
1990
(Turin, 1995).
Clark, K.,
Leonardo da Vinci
, ed. M. Kemp (London, 1993).
Leonardo da Vinci
, ed. M. Kemp (London, 1993).
Farago, C. (ed.),
Leonardo’s Writings and Theory of Art
, 5 vols. (London, 1999).
Leonardo’s Writings and Theory of Art
, 5 vols. (London, 1999).
Kemp, M.,
Leonardo
(Oxford, 2004).
Leonardo
(Oxford, 2004).
——Leonardo da Vinci: The Marvellous Works of Nature and Man
(Oxford, 2006).
(Oxford, 2006).
Marani, P.,
Leonardo da Vinci
(New York, 2003).
Leonardo da Vinci
(New York, 2003).
Raccolta Vinciana
, a regular journal edited by P. Marani.
, a regular journal edited by P. Marani.
Zollner, F., and Nathan, J.,
Leonardo da Vinci
(Cologne, 2003).
Editions and FacsimilesLeonardo da Vinci
(Cologne, 2003).
Giunti is publishing a new series of facsimiles of all manuscripts and drawings as the Edizione Nazionale dei Manoscritti e dei Disegni di Leonardo da Vinci (1964- ). Earlier facsimiles were published by the Reale Commissione Vinciana.
Farago, C.,
Leonardo da Vinci’s Paragone: A Critical Interpretation with a New Edition of the Text in the Codex Urbinus
(New York, 1991).
Leonardo da Vinci’s Paragone: A Critical Interpretation with a New Edition of the Text in the Codex Urbinus
(New York, 1991).
Kemp, M. (ed.), and Walker, M. (trans.),
Leonardo on Painting
(New Haven and London, 1989).
Leonardo on Painting
(New Haven and London, 1989).
McCurdy, J.,
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
(London, 1938).
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
(London, 1938).
Pedretti, C.,
The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci: A Commentary to J. P. Richter’s Anthology
, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1977).
The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci: A Commentary to J. P. Richter’s Anthology
, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1977).
——(ed.), and Marinoni, A. (transcr.),
Il Codice Atlantico della Biblioteca Ambrosiana di Milano
(Florence, 2000).
Il Codice Atlantico della Biblioteca Ambrosiana di Milano
(Florence, 2000).
——(ed.), and Vecce, C. (transcr.),
Leonardo da Vinci: Libro di pittura, Codice Urbinate lat. 1270 nel Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
(Florence, 1995).
Leonardo da Vinci: Libro di pittura, Codice Urbinate lat. 1270 nel Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
(Florence, 1995).
Richter, J. P.,
The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci
, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1970).
The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci
, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1970).
Venerella, J. (trans.),
The Manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci in the Institut de France
(Milan, 1999- ).
The Manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci in the Institut de France
(Milan, 1999- ).
Villata, E. (ed.),
I documenti e le testimonianze contemporanee
, Ente Raccolta Vinciana (Milan, 1999).
On DrawingsI documenti e le testimonianze contemporanee
, Ente Raccolta Vinciana (Milan, 1999).
A series of exhibition catalogues of the Windsor drawings have been produced by Lady J. Roberts and M. Clayton.
Bambach, C. (ed.),
Leonardo da Vinci Master Draftsman
(New York, 2003).
Leonardo da Vinci Master Draftsman
(New York, 2003).
——
Leonardo and his Drawings: A Documented History
(New Haven and London, 2008).
Leonardo and his Drawings: A Documented History
(New Haven and London, 2008).
Clark, K., and Pedretti, C.,
The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci in the Collection of her Majesty the Queen
, 3 vols. (London, 1968).
The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci in the Collection of her Majesty the Queen
, 3 vols. (London, 1968).
Popham, A. E., and Kemp, M. (introd.),
The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci
(London, 1994).
The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci
(London, 1994).
Viatte, F. (ed.),
Leonard de Vinci: Dessins et manuscrits
(Paris, 2003).
On Architecture and EngineeringLeonard de Vinci: Dessins et manuscrits
(Paris, 2003).
Galluzzi, P.,
Leonardo da Vinci: Engineer and Architect
(Montreal, 1987).
Leonardo da Vinci: Engineer and Architect
(Montreal, 1987).
——
The Renaissance Engineers from Brunelleschi to Leonardo da Vinci
(Florence, 1996).
The Renaissance Engineers from Brunelleschi to Leonardo da Vinci
(Florence, 1996).
Marani, P.,
L’architettura fortificata negli studi di Leonardo da Vinci
(Florence, 1984).
L’architettura fortificata negli studi di Leonardo da Vinci
(Florence, 1984).
Pedretti, C.,
Leonardo Architect
(New York, 1981).
On ScienceLeonardo Architect
(New York, 1981).
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