Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519). Uomo Universale of the Italian Renaissance, he made important contributions to architectural theory and town-planning. He was involved in preliminary studies for the crossing of Milan Cathedral (c.1487) and, with Francesco di Giorgio, was consulted about the building of Pavia Cathedral in c.1490. He provided plans for Milan's urban renewal and expansion (1490s), and produced sketches in which his interest in relating buildings geometrically to streets, squares, and gardens using axes is demonstrated. Like others of his time, he was fascinated by the possibilities of centrally planned domed buildings, and in this respect his relationship with Bramante in Milan is important, for the two men developed their ideas under the aegis of the Sforza family. Leonardo was involved with Bramante in the design of the domed crossing and chancel of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan (1490s), intended as a mausoleum for the Sforzas, and painted his beautiful Last Supper (which contains an architectural setting of remarkable modernity for its date, almost anticipating Palladio) in the refectory (c.1495). It would seem that the maturing of Bramante's style to the gravitas of his Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio, Rome, and his development of centralized geometries at the basilica of San Pietro, Rome, may be due in no small part to Leonardo's influence.

Leonardo's notebooks give a fascinating glimpse of his architectural interests. Apart from his important scientific and mechanical drawings, his lively mind often experimented with the Classical vocabulary in a way that looked forward to much later developments. Fortifications, centralized plans, and technology were all his concerns, but there are also studies of designs for villas (c.1506) that anticipate Palladianism, and even Mannerism, with columns inserted in recesses, something Michelangelo was to do years later. With Bramante, he seems to have acted as some kind of adviser for the Church of Santa Maria della Consolazione at Todi (1508), begun by Cola da Caprarola. In his last years Leonardo worked in France, planning a vast Royal residence and settlement at Romorantin (c.1517–19), complete with huge canals linking the English Channel to the Mediterranean.

Bibliography

Arata (1953);
Firpo (ed.) (1963);
Heydenreich (1996);
P. Murray (1969, 1986);
Pedretti (1985);
Placzek (ed.) (1982);
Jane Turner (1996)