A US First: Leonardo’s Ingenious Drawings Visit Washington

A US First: Leonardo’s Ingenious Drawings Visit Washington
"Diving Apparatus and Water Pumping Devices," circa 1480–1482, by Leonardo da Vinci. Metal point marks, pen and ink on paper; approximately 11 1/4 inches by 15 5/8 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 1069r. Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
Lorraine Ferrier
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Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael created the epitome of Renaissance art. Most of us know Leonardo’s artistic brilliance through his best-known paintings, the “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper,” yet Leonardo’s art is one tiny facet of his legendary genius.

Some may be surprised to learn that he spent many years as an engineer, most notably, around 17 years for the duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza (who also commissioned Leonardo to create “The Last Supper”).

"Leonardo da Vinci" by Francesco Melzi. Red chalk on paper. (Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana)
"Leonardo da Vinci" by Francesco Melzi. Red chalk on paper. Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana

Leonardo made it his life’s mission to understand everything. “Reading the thousands of words in Leonardo’s note-books, one is absolutely worn out by this energy. He won’t take yes for an answer. He can’t leave anything alone—he worries [about] it, re-states it, answers imaginary antagonists,” wrote late art historian Kenneth Clark in his book “Civilisation.” Leonardo drew on his artistic talents to decipher the world around him, and left thousands of pages of notes and drawings, more than any other artist.

For the first time in America, 12 of Leonardo’s drawings from the “Codex Atlanticus”—the largest collection of his writing and drawings—are now on display in the “Imagining the Future—Leonardo da Vinci: In the Mind of an Italian Genius” exhibition at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, until Aug. 20. Leonardo created the 12 drawings between 1478 and 1519. Exhibition visitors can marvel at Leonardo’s mercantile script (mirror writing) and see his wonder-filled theories and research, and his fantastical inventions that range from studies of motion, geometry, and mechanics to cartography, hydrology, and aerodynamics, to name a few.

Nature, Leonardo’s Master

The nature of Leonardo’s genius was nature itself; it taught him mastery. He wrote that, “Human subtlety ... will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does Nature, because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.”

He believed firsthand experience through one of the five senses, “as the mother of all certainty,” with wisdom being “the daughter of experience.” He pursued such wisdom; observing the natural world in all its minutiae, making copious notes and drawings of his findings. These discoveries permeated every facet of his work, as an artist, architect, and engineer, to name a few occupations.

According to the website Erenow, Leonardo was a systemic thinker, connecting one phenomena to another: “When he studied the proportions of the human body, he compared them to the proportions of buildings in Renaissance architecture. His investigations of muscles and bones led him to study and draw gears and levers, thus interlinking animal physiology and engineering. Patterns of turbulence in water led him to observe similar patterns in the flow of air; and from there he went on to explore the nature of sound, the theory of music, and the design of musical instruments.”

Professor S.J. Freedberg explains how Leonardo connected the laws of nature to painting, in his book “Painting in Italy 1500–1600.” Freedberg quotes Leonardo’s “A Treatise on Painting”: “The mind of the painter must transmute itself into the very mind of nature and be the interpreter between it and art, commenting with art the causes of its demonstrations as they are determined by its laws.”

According to “A World History of Art,” by Hugh Honour and John Fleming: “Careful study of plants and anatomy and the principles of organic growth led Leonardo to construct his paintings according to a similar system, with every part integrated in such a way that there are no apparent beginnings or ends, no sharp transitions. In his ‘Virgin and Child With St. Anne,’ for example, he entwined the three figures into a pyramid, within which forms grow out of one another as naturally as a leaf from its stem or a branch from a tree-trunk.”

Codex Atlanticus

As the largest collection of Leonardo’s writing and drawings, the “Codex Atlanticus” shows the extraordinary breadth of the master’s genius beyond his artistic talents. Between the late-16th and early-17th centuries, Italian sculptor Pompeo Leoni mounted Leonardo’s diagrams, drawings, and notes on 1,119 pages of cartography paper, compiling the codex. Leoni likely arranged the works aesthetically rather than systematically, according to Carolina Donzelli at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan (who hold the codex). So reading the codex from cover to cover may not make much sense.

An online copy of the codex, however, classifies the works into five searchable categories: “Human Sciences.” “Tools and Machines,” “Physics and Natural Sciences,” “Geometry and Algebra,” and “Architecture and Applied Arts.”

Having analyzed Leonardo’s notebooks, along with the polymath’s frequent interpolations, the late art historian Kenneth Clark wrote in The New York Review that “at least two eminent Leonardists have gone mad, and several of the others have shown uncomfortable signs of nervous tension. He is too heavy and weighty for any scholar to bear.”

In the exhibition, visitors need not tax their minds over the works’ content but rather delight in the illustrations and inventions that have influenced modern science and technology. Among the works are detailed diagrams and calculations exploring mathematical principles applied to art and architecture; a detailed depiction of the central-eastern Mediterranean region, including coastlines, geographical features, and place names; a design for a cloth shearing machine to automate cutting cloth; studies for a revolving crane with an adjustable counterweight; a drawing for a digging machine, including a gearbox and a mechanical arm for scooping and removing earth or debris; studies on the behavior of river water; designs for underwater exploration; studies for a self-propelling cart with gears and mechanisms; and drawings for wing designs for flying machines.

“If any of the above-mentioned things seem impossible or impracticable to anyone,” Leonardo wrote in a 1482 letter to Sforza, “I am most readily disposed to demonstrate them in your park or in whatsoever place shall please.” How wonderful it would’ve been to witness one of Leonardo’s demonstrations. In his absence, Leonardo’s “Codex Atlanticus” drawings demonstrate his enduring ingenuity, born from his reverence of nature’s perfect creations, and his faith in making the impossible possible.

The “Imagining the Future—Leonardo da Vinci: In the Mind of an Italian Genius” exhibition at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington D.C., runs through Aug. 20. To find out more, visit DCLibrary.org
The “Codex Atlanticus” can be seen online at Codex-Atlanticus.Ambrosiana.it
"Study for a Digging Machine," circa 1503-1504, by Leonardo da Vinci. Black chalk, pen and ink, watercolor on dark prepared paper; 10 5/8 inches by 15 3/4 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 3r.(Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana)
"Study for a Digging Machine," circa 1503-1504, by Leonardo da Vinci. Black chalk, pen and ink, watercolor on dark prepared paper; 10 5/8 inches by 15 3/4 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 3r.Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
"Study of the Current of a River," date unknown, and "Drawing of a mechanical wing," circa 1490, both by Leonardo da Vinci. Red pencil on paper; approximately 7 3/4 inches by 5 1/2 inches and approximately 7 1/8 inches by 9 3/4 inches respectively. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 70r. (Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana)
"Study of the Current of a River," date unknown, and "Drawing of a mechanical wing," circa 1490, both by Leonardo da Vinci. Red pencil on paper; approximately 7 3/4 inches by 5 1/2 inches and approximately 7 1/8 inches by 9 3/4 inches respectively. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 70r. Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
"Perpetual Motion Study and Architectural Studies," circa 1503–1505, by Leonardo da Vinci. Drypoint, pen and pencil on paper; approximately 13 1/2 inches by 9 5/8 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 778r. (Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana)
"Perpetual Motion Study and Architectural Studies," circa 1503–1505, by Leonardo da Vinci. Drypoint, pen and pencil on paper; approximately 13 1/2 inches by 9 5/8 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 778r. Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
(Top) "Studies of Geometric Proportions," circa 1478–1480 and (Bottom) "Studies of Fountains," circa 1487–1490, by Leonardo da Vinci. Pencil and ink on paper; approximately 8 1/4 inches by 11 inches. and approximately 7 3/8 inches by 8 5/8 inches by 11 inches respectively. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 798r. (Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana)
(Top) "Studies of Geometric Proportions," circa 1478–1480 and (Bottom) "Studies of Fountains," circa 1487–1490, by Leonardo da Vinci. Pencil and ink on paper; approximately 8 1/4 inches by 11 inches. and approximately 7 3/8 inches by 8 5/8 inches by 11 inches respectively. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 798r. Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
"Study of a Self-propelling Cart," circa 1478, by Leonardo da Vinci. Pen and ink on paper; approximately 10 5/8 inches by 6 5/8 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 812r. (Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana)
"Study of a Self-propelling Cart," circa 1478, by Leonardo da Vinci. Pen and ink on paper; approximately 10 5/8 inches by 6 5/8 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 812r. Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
"Study of a Mechanical Wing," circa 1505–1506, by Leonardo da Vinci. Pen and ink on paper; approximately 10 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 934r. (Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana)
"Study of a Mechanical Wing," circa 1505–1506, by Leonardo da Vinci. Pen and ink on paper; approximately 10 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 934r. Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
"Revolving Crane With Adjustable Counterweight," circa 1478–1480, by Leonardo da Vinci. Pen and ink on paper; approximately 12 3/8 inches by 7 7/8 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 965r. (Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana)
"Revolving Crane With Adjustable Counterweight," circa 1478–1480, by Leonardo da Vinci. Pen and ink on paper; approximately 12 3/8 inches by 7 7/8 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 965r. Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
"Diving Apparatus and Water Pumping Devices," circa 1480–1482, by Leonardo da Vinci. Metal point marks, pen and ink on paper; approximately 11 1/4 inches by 15 5/8 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 1069r. (Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana)
"Diving Apparatus and Water Pumping Devices," circa 1480–1482, by Leonardo da Vinci. Metal point marks, pen and ink on paper; approximately 11 1/4 inches by 15 5/8 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 1069r. Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
"Study of Hydraulic Pump and Fountain in Architectural Structures," circa 1500, by Leonardo da Vinci. Medium: Pen and ink, watercolor on paper; approximately 14 3/4 inches by 6 3/4 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 1099r. (Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana)
"Study of Hydraulic Pump and Fountain in Architectural Structures," circa 1500, by Leonardo da Vinci. Medium: Pen and ink, watercolor on paper; approximately 14 3/4 inches by 6 3/4 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 1099r. Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
"Cloth Shearing Machine," circa 1495, by Leonardo da Vinci. Pen and ink over traces of black chalk on paper; approximately 11 1/4 inches by 16 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 1105r. (Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana)
"Cloth Shearing Machine," circa 1495, by Leonardo da Vinci. Pen and ink over traces of black chalk on paper; approximately 11 1/4 inches by 16 inches. "Codex Atlanticus" f. 1105r. Mondadori Portfolio/Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
Lorraine Ferrier
Lorraine Ferrier
Author
Lorraine Ferrier writes about fine arts and craftsmanship for The Epoch Times. She focuses on artists and artisans, primarily in North America and Europe, who imbue their works with beauty and traditional values. She's especially interested in giving a voice to the rare and lesser-known arts and crafts, in the hope that we can preserve our traditional art heritage. She lives and writes in a London suburb, in England.
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