The Manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci, Vol. 6

FOREWORD

...whether in company or solitary, of their despairs, of the games it is good for them to engage in, of time useful for study, of proprieties and harmonies, of forms, contours, contrasts; of backgrounds, draperies, sketches of histories In this context, "histories" refers to narrative scenes, such as those from the Bible or classical mythology, of the representation of the life of a saint, of angels, nymphs, of characters and attitudes, of the balancing and the serpenting Leonardo used the term "serpentinato" to describe figures that appear to twist or turn, giving them a lifelike energy of figures, of relief—"the importance and soul of painting"—of perspective, which is its "bridle and its rudder," of light and shadow—this last part to be compared with the texts of manuscript C (3rd volume)—of the use of the mirror, the "master of painters," of the rule for judging one's own work, of tracing and counter-tracing, of the manner of learning by heart and of inventing, of the stains on walls to be observed Leonardo famously suggested that looking at random stains on walls could help an artist visualize landscapes, battles, or faces, of the utility of carrying a sketchbook and notes, etc., etc.

Alongside the artist, we find in manuscript 2038, as everywhere else, the scientist, preoccupied with verifying through experience the phenomena that authors have described or cited, and with perfecting the instruments used until then; thus, there is mention of levers and what the physician Pelacane Biagio Pelacani of Parma (c. 1345–1416), a physicist and mathematician whose work influenced the development of perspective had written about them, and of an orichalcum a gold-colored alloy, similar to brass, used in the ancient world scale, of suspended bodies, of the sun and the moon, and of a curious visual illusion. In previous manuscripts, we have seen how much optics preoccupied the author; this is because, for Leonardo, as he says here: "The eye, which is called the window of the soul, is the principal path by which the common sense can amply and magnificently consider his infinite works." And to express this grandeur and magnificence, it is above all to painting that one must devote oneself. If painting, says the painter of the Mona Lisa original: "la Joconde", is but "silent poetry," it is nevertheless superior to the "blind painting" of the poet, and it "surpasses all human works." Whoever despises it "does not love the philosophy in Nature," of which it can be rightly called the "granddaughter."

The second notebook, manuscript Ash. I, no. 2037, has only 26 pages, of which 25 were taken from manuscript B of the Institute; but it contains a fine quantity of sketches and drawings, in pen or silverpoint, some of figures—including caricatures—others of weapons and engines, most of churches and ships.

This time, it is primarily a matter of the wars of Antiquity and religious architecture. Some notes offer a special interest, for example, on the use, regarding maritime combat, of an articulated shoe, similar to certain ancient clogs in the Louvre Museum¹, on Archimedes and Tryphon of Alexandria an ancient Greek grammarian, on various names of ancient peoples, as well as a few words that could be in a secret script².

Following these three manuscripts, which together provide 378 facsimiles, and their alphabetical analysis, one will find the errata for the 4th, 5th, and 6th volumes, then an Appendix containing, along with a second edition of folio 1 recto of manuscript A—the keys, so to speak, of the work—that is to say, with specimens allowing one to quickly learn to recognize the details of Leonardo da Vinci's handwriting, a directory facilitating the use of the references—tiring by their multiplicity and variety—given by the fourteen individual tables, as well as chronological and concordance essays concerning the manuscripts and biographies of Leonardo and a bibliographic supplement; finally, a few lines to conclude, where mention is made of Italy and England.

1. See the Museums Bulletin of April 25, 1891, p. 120 (Soles equipped with a hinge under the ball of the foot and nails on the side facing the ground).
2. Cf. manuscript B, folio 3 r°, ms I, folio 122 [74] v°, and the foreword to the 4th volume. — According to some, the bizarre characters of these words might support the hypothesis of a journey by Leonardo da Vinci to the East (see below, in the appendix, the concordance, year 1481); according to another opinion, they could be considered traces of "magical research" (H. Olivier, Revue Bleue, p. 236, col. I, 1890).