Leonardo da Vinci, Fragments

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ex p er i e n c e and his real machines

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ex p er i e n c e and his real machines

Introduction.............................. 4 The Aphorisms......................... 6 Prophecies, Witticisms..... 34 Other People’s Words....... 46 Works Cited............................58

In the opposite page: Leonardo Da Vinci, Perspective Study for the Adoration of the Magi, 1481 circa, Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe degli Uffizi, Florence.

Introduction Rivers of ink have been devoted to Leonardo da Vinci, and entire libraries could be filled with the studies of his work. Supreme incarnation of the Renaissance’s syncretic ideals, his figure has inspired generations of intellectuals – his example has been, for centuries, a basis for comparison, something to measure up to. Architect, poet, engineer, painter, sculptor, musician. In one word: genius.

However, attempting to read Leonardo’s texts for the first time, one finds oneself faced with something quite different from the ideal of rigor, harmony, and proportion his legend evokes. The reader would in fact perceive – as Anna Maria Brizio has written – a sense of “disorientation. No apparent order, no continuity of subject matter and development; rather, on the same page, the most varied and diverse propositions follow each other without connection: the most minute and contingent annotations of daily life – a bill, a memo, a list of objects, the bare recollection of a fact – follows the enunciation of a theorem, the subtle observation of a natural phenomenon, a calculation of power and resistance, a fairy tale, a motto, and so on; or a demonstration, commences with a precise and lengthy enunciation of premises, then meanders in divergent directions and becomes intertwined with new elements that lead away from the starting point”1. His are nomadic words, asystematic, fragmented. In his pages there is nearly never a separation between text and drawing.

1 A. M. Brizio, Scritti scelti, edited by A. B. Brizio, Torino, UTET 1968, p. 7

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Introduction

The corpus of Leonardo’s manuscripts is composed of over 8,000 sheets. However, scholars believe that this is only a small part of the bulk of his writing and drawing: about 100,000 sheets are estimated to have been lost. At the master’s death, these materials were inherited by his disciple, Francesco Melzi, whose heirs sold them to the sculptor Pompeo Leoni, who, to sell them more profitably, divided them into separate batches. During the 17th century, they were for the most part collected by the Milanese count Galeazzo Arconati, and later donated to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. In 1796, Napoleon sent them to Paris, whence, after the Congress of Vienna, only the Atlantic Codex returned to Milan, while the rest, due to a mistake by the Austrian official, remained at the Institut de France. At this point, other texts had been in England for a long time, while others still would appear much later, such as the Madrid Codices, discovered by chance in the Spanish capital in 1966.

In conclusion, we may say that the vicissitudes of these texts are as fragmentary as their composition. You well can imagine how difficult it was to select a brief collection of aphorisms from this great volume of writing, our attempt being that of conveying a picture of the complexity of Leonardo’s work. We hope that the effort was not in vain.

Raffaele Nencini Crossmedia editorial staff

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The Aphorisms

Introduction

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The Aphorisms

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“T

hat which has no end has no figure.

[Ar. 132 r.]

In the two previous pages: Leonardo Da Vinci, Scythed Chariot, 1485 circa, Biblioteca Reale, Turin.

In the opposite page: Leonardo Da Vinci, Virgin of the Rocks (first version), detail, 1483-1486, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

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The Aphorisms

10

The Aphorisms

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“G

iven a cause, Nature brings about its effect in the swiftest possible way.

[Ar. 174 v.]

In the opposite page: Leonardo Da Vinci, Head of a Woman, detail, 14751478 circa, Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe degli Uffizi, Florence.

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The Aphorisms

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“H

e who disputes by citing authority is not using his intelligence but his memory.

[Ar. 174 v.]

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The Aphorisms

isdom is the daughter of experience.

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“W

[Fo. III 14 r.]

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The Aphorisms

14

The Aphorisms

ecessity is the teacher and tutor of Nature.

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“N

[Fo. III 43 v.]

In the opposite page: Leonardo Da Vinci, Annunciation, detail, 1472-1474 circa, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

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Works Cited The texts that compose the first two parts of this volume are taken from the corpus of Leonardo’s manuscripts, while for the chapter In Other People’s Words, we tapped into the rich critical resources.

Below, the sources for every text.

Corpus of Leonardo’s manuscripts: • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P. • P.

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9: Codex Arundel 263, folio 132 recto; 11: Codex Arundel 263, folio 174 verso; 12: Codex Arundel 263, folio 174 verso; 13: Codex Forster III, folio 14 recto; 15: Codex Forster III, folio 43 verso; 17: Codex C, folio 23 verso; 19: Codex Urbinas, folio 68; 21: Codex Atlanticus, folio 4 recto; 22: Codex Atlanticus, folio 76 verso; 23: Codex Atlanticus, folio 109 recto; 25: Codex Urbinas, folio 16 recto; 27: Royal Collection, folio 12282 recto; 28: Codex K, folio 49 recto; 29: Codex H, folio 119 recto; 31: Codex I, folio 15 recto; 33: Codex H, folio 16 verso; 37: Codex Atlanticus, folio 76 verso; 39: Codex Atlanticus, folio 76 verso; 40: Codex M, folio 58 verso;

Works Cited

• P. 41: Codex Forster II, folio 31 verso; • P. 43: Codex I, folio 63 verso; • P. 45: Codex I, folio 64 verso.

Critical literature: • P. 48: G. Vasari, G. Vasari, Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori, et architettori italiani, da Cimabue insino a’ tempi nostri, riviste et ampliate, 3 voll., in Fiorenza, appresso i Giunti, 1568 (English Translation Lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors and architects, edited by Gaston Duc De Vere, London, MacMillan & Co, 1912-1914, pp. 104-105); • P. 51: Stendhal, Histoire de la peinture en Italie, Paris, Didot, 1817 (Italian Translation Storia della pittura in Italia, edited by B. Schacherl, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 1983, p. 256); • P. 52: C. Baudelaire, Les fleurs du mal, Paris, Poulet-Malassis, 1857 (English Translation Flowers of Evil, edited by Lewis Piaget Shanks, New York, Ives Washburn, 1931); • P. 53: B. Berenson, The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1896; • P. 55: L. Venturi, La critica e l’arte di Leonardo da Vinci, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1919, p. 92; • P. 56: P. Klee, Tagebücher 1898-1918, Köln, Dumont Schauberg, 1957 p. 186; • P. 57: E. Cecchi, Considerazioni su Leonardo, in «Lo Smeraldo», VI, n 3, p.16.

Where an official translation was not found, the quotes were translated from the Italian by Cristina Popple.

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Editing: Raffaele Nencini Graphic Design: Giulia Raineri Translation: Cristina Popple ©2017 C&T Crossmedia Srl Via dello Studio, 5 Firenze www.ctcrossmedia.com info@ctcrossmedia.com

ex p er i e n c e

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“A

and his real machines

painting is a poem seen but not heard, a poem is a painting heard but not seen. Hence these two poems, or two paintings, have exchanged the senses by which they pierce the intellect.

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