Leonardo da Vinci E-Book

Narim Bender

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Leonardo, like Christopher Columbus, possessed an greedy curiosity and desire for discovery of unknown worlds. Only observation, says many times Leonardo, is the key to knowledge and understanding. His drawings are unlike from those of his generation and those drawn before and after him. Among them are fast sketches, portraits, rapid notes for compositions, complicated cartoons, drapery studies, and projects for machines, plants, animals, sketched from nature and anatomical studies. The grotesque caricatures are combinations and variations of human faces, creating a series of types. His anatomical sketches make obvious not only the place of muscles or the bone construction; they as well illustrate the embryo in mother's womb and a exposed skull, - symbols of the creation and ending of human life.

Leseprobe

Narim Bender

Leonardo da Vinci

197 Drawings

BookRix GmbH & Co. KG80331 Munich

Drawings

Profile of a warrior in helmet, 1472, metalpoint, 28.5 x 20.7 cm, British Museum, London

Arno Landscape, 1473, Pen and ink on paper. 19 x 28.5 cm. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

Woman's Head, 1474, Pen, ink and white pigment on paper, 28.2 x 19.9 cm. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

The detailed drawing of a girl's head contains elements typical of the school of Verrocchio, such as the diagonally placed eyes with the considerably rounded pupils and hair painted in meticulous detail. A relationship between this drawing and the Mary in the Annunciation predella in the Louvre has quite rightly been established. The attribution of the drawing to Leonardo is now just as disputed as its dating.

Study of hands, c. 1474, Silverpoint and white highlights on pink prepared paper, 21.4 x 15 cm, Royal Library, Windsor

This study is remarkable in the amount of life it brings to a simple drawing. The image may have been a source of inspiration for Escher's famous drawing of a hand drawing another hand; there has also been unsubstantiated speculation that this may have served as a study for hands in the the Mona Lisa. This seems unlikely, but the sketch is striking.

Garment study for a seated figure, 1470-84, Brush and grey distemper on grey canvas, 26.6 x 23.3 cm, Louvre, Paris

Garment studies were part of the training of every painter. It is likely that prepared materials were used for this in the workshops in Florence. On them, the students were above all able to study the depiction of light and shade, which is why these works appear to have been carried out primarily in one colour. Several such garment studies at different levels of artistic ability survive, though their attribution is disputed. It is above all the fineness of this study that has led to its being attributed to Leonardo.

Study of the Madonna and Child with a Cat, c. 1478, Pen and ink on paper, 28.1 x 19.9 cm, British Museum, London

The compositional drawing is connected with the painting of the Benois Madonna, as indicated by the head of Mary and the sketched window in the background. Leonardo traced the composition from the rear side, worked out the mirror image version with additional variations, and then applied a wash. There is no record of a painting of this composition by Leonardo. The motif of the Madonna with a cat was later depicted in a student's painting that is now in the Brera in Milan.

Study sheet, 1478, Pen and ink on paper, 20.2 x 26.6 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

In addition to sketches of two profile heads, there are also mechanical and military drawings on the sheet. Due to a comment which Leonardo notes down in his characteristic mirror writing, to the effect that he is working on two pictures of Mary in 1478, the sheet is important for the artist's early work. The mirror writing was not intended to hide any secrets, as had so frequently been thought, but probably only had the simple practical reason of not wanting to smear the ink when writing with his left hand.

Study of nursing Madonna and profile heads, c.1480, ink, 40.5 x 29 cm, Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, London,

Study of the Hanged Bernardo di Bandino Baroncelli, assassin of Giuliano de Medici, 1479, ink, 7.3 x 19.2 cm, usee Bonnat, Bayonne, France

Automobile, 1480, ink, 20 x 27 cm, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy

Lily, c.1480, chalk, ink, 31.4 x 17.7 cm, Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, London

Studies of central plan buildings, 1480, ink, 16 x 22 cm, Bibliotheque de l'Institut de France, Paris, France

Study for the Adoration of the Magi, 1480, ink, 28.5 x 21.5 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris,

Crossbow Machine, 1481, ink, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy

Drawings of Water Lifting Devices, c.1481, ink, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy

Multi Barrel Gun, c.1481, ink, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy

Perspectival study of the Adoration of the Magi, c.1481, ink, 16.3 x 29 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy

Siege Defenses, c.1481, ink, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy