Leonardo's Notebooks
Side cut sketch of Da Vinci's Ideal City. It show the three different levels, organized and designed by Da Vinci. Botanical Drawings Botanical Illustration Botanical Art Nature Drawing Plant Drawing Michelangelo Leonardo Drew Royal Collection Trust Renaissance. Leonardo Da Vinci, or commonly referred to as Leonardo, was born in 1452 in a town called Vinci in Florence, hence the surname Vinci. Leonardo began his career as an understudy to Verrocchio, a renowned painter in Florence who became most famous for his painting: The Baptism of Christ, which Leonardo is actually credited for by assisting in this portrait. Tags: leonardo, da, vinci, sketches All rights to paintings and other images found on PaintingValley.com are owned by their respective owners (authors, artists), and the Administration of the website doesn't bear responsibility for their use.
Martin Clayton, Head of Prints and Drawings at the Royal Collection Trust and curator of the exhibition, “Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing,” holds up one of Leonardo’s sketches in the Print. Leonardo da Vinci (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, theorist, engineer, scientist, sculptor and architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he also became known for his notebooks, in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy.
The great artist Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks probably started out as just a way for him to improve the quality of his paintings. He studied anatomy to portray the human body accurately. He studied plants and rocks to make them authentic for his paintings. Somewhere along the line, however, the books became more than that. They became a record of his life-long fascination with nature and his genius for invention.
At the time of his death in 1519 Leonardo was known as a great artist, but his capabilities as an engineer, scientist and inventor were less appreciated. After his demise, his notebooks fell into the possession of his favorite apprentice Francesco Melzi. Melzi held onto most of them and kept them safe until his own death in 1579. Melzi heirs had less respect for the material, however, and sold pages off to collectors or gave them away to friends.
In 1630 Pompeo Leoni, a sculptor in the Court of the King of Spain, got a hold of much of the material and tried to organize it by subject. This unfortunatley resulted in the books being taken apart and the original order, which might have told us much about Leonardo's thinking, was lost. Each of the new books created by this process was a Codex.
One of Leonardo's anatomy drawings probably done from a dissection. |
In many of his books Leonardo employed a backwards form of writing that could only be read with a mirror. It is unknown why he did this. Some historians speculate he did it to keep his writings private, others think that because he was left-handed he just found it easier and faster to write this way.
Clearly the notebooks were written for his own personal use. The organization is minimal. The lettering is quick, sloppy and often without punctuation. There is some indication he employed a personal shorthand, making the content confusing to read. In many places the pen seems to race along trying to keep up with the revelations of the mind.
Much of the books appear to be lab notes. Leonardo used the scientific method before the scientific method had been invented. In one revealing passage he states, 'First I shall make some experiments before I proceed further, because my intention is to consult experience first and then by means of reasoning show why such experiment is bound to work in such a way. And this is the rule by which those who analyze natural effects must proceed; and although nature begins with the cause and ends with the experience, we must follow the opposite course, namely (as I said before), begin with the experience and by means of it investigate the cause.'
Over time most of the notebooks have found their way into various museums, archives or libraries around the world. Only one is in private hands. Two were totally unknown until 1966 when they were found by chance in the National Library of Madrid. Presently there are ten known codices containing Leonardo's sketches and notes.
Jerry garcia songbook. A flying machine that works by flapping its wings. |
Codex Atlanticus - This document contains information on mathematics, geometry, astronomy, botany, zoology and the military arts. It is held by the Biblioteca Ambrosianain in Milan, Italy. There are some 1,119 pages in this work spread over 12 volumes. This sketchbook contains some of Leonardo's most famous drawings and notes.
Of particular interest are the pages on gliders and flying machines. Most of Leonardo's aerial machines were designed after he studied birds. For this reason they generated their forward motion by mechanisms designed to flap the wings. In his notes he recorded, 'the bird is an instrument functioning according to mathematical laws, and man has the power to reproduce an instrument like this with all its movements.'
