Leonardo da Vinci

Excerpts from Notebooks (c.1490–1515)

Reprinted in Selections from the Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci

Edited by Irma A. Richter
Published in 1977

The Italian Renaissance was a time of experimentation in painting, sculpture, and architecture. During the Middle Ages (c. 400–1400; also known as the medieval period) the artist was an anonymous vehicle for glorifying God. In the Renaissance, however, human beings became the central focus of artistic expression. This development was the result of the humanist movement, a revival of the culture of ancient Greece and Rome (called the classical period) initiated by scholars in Florence, Italy, in the mid-1300s. Humanists believed that a body of learning called studia humanitatis (humanistic studies), which was based on the literary masterpieces from the classical period, could bring about a cultural rebirth, or renaissance. Humanists were committed to the revival of ancient works, which emphasized human achievement, as a way to end the "barbarism" (lack of refinement or culture) of the Middle Ages.

The Renaissance art movement began in the early fifteenth century when humanist ideas were put into practice by painters, sculptors, and architects in Florence. Using a human-centered approach, they started a revolution that quickly spread to other Italian city-states such as Urbino, Ferrara, Padua, Mantua, Venice, and Milan. Renaissance art is divided into three periods: early Renaissance (1420–95), High Renaissance (1495–1520), and mannerism (also called the late Renaissance; 1520s–1600). These periods overlapped, depending on the artists and the places where they worked. Renaissance art theories began reaching other European countries in the 1500s, at the peak of the High Renaissance. Around this time Rome became the artistic capital of Europe.

As the Renaissance gained momentum the artist achieved a new status as a creative genius. Prior to this time artists occupied the position of artisans, or craftsmen, and were considered socially inferior to the upper classes. Now wealthy patrons, or financial supporters, clamored to commission the greatest artists, who gained coveted posts in the courts of monarchs and the nobility. As part of the revival of classical culture, Renaissance artists studied ancient ruins in Rome and adapted ancient painting techniques. They also introduced their own innovations, such as the use of linear perspective. Invented by the Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446), linear perspective is a system derived from mathematics in which all elements of a composition are measured and arranged from a single point of view, or perspective. The Florentine artist Masaccio (Tommaso di Giovanni di Simone Guidi; 1401–1428), known as the father of Renaissance painting, was the first to use linear perspective extensively. Portraits of prominent people and their families also became increasingly popular, reflecting a dramatic shift from the idea that heavenly figures or saints were the only worthy subjects of art. In addition, landscape painting was emerging as a new genre, or form of art. This was another important change, because in medieval art nature was simply the environment of human beings and therefore had little significance.

Leonardo introduces new techniques

One of the greatest figures of the High Renaissance was Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), a painter, sculptor, engineer, and scientist. He began his career as a painter in Florence, then worked in Milan and Rome before moving permanently to France during his final years. He also served as a military engineer while working as an artist. Leonardo produced many paintings, but only a few have survived. Nevertheless, he introduced techniques that influenced other painters. An example is Adoration of the Magi (1481), which is based on the story of the three Magi (kings; wise men) who traveled to Bethlehem from the East (ancient Persia; present-day Iran) to pay homage to the newborn Jesus Christ (later the founder of Christianity). Leonardo used a new approach by depicting human drama through an effect of continuing movement. A crowd of spectators, with odd and varied faces, flutters around and peers at Mary (mother of Jesus), who is holding the baby Jesus. In the background the three Magi are mounted on horses that prance among intricate architectural ruins. Traditionally, in paintings of this story Mary and Jesus had appeared at one side of the picture and the Magi approached from the other side. Leonardo departed from tradition by placing Mary and Jesus in the center of the composition. He also used linear perspective to depict the ruins in the background.

While working in Milan, Leonardo painted Virgin of the Rocks (1480s), another highly original work. He used the tradition of showing Mary and Jesus in a cave. This gave him the opportunity to experiment with dimmed light, which is coming from two sources, one behind the cave and the other in front of it. (Leonardo once wrote that an artist should practice drawing at dusk and in courtyards with walls painted black.) The technique highlights the four figures—Mary and Jesus and another woman and infant—in a soft, shadowy atmosphere. Last Supper (1495–97), a later painting that Leonardo did in Milan, depicts Jesus' final meal with his twelve disciples, or followers. For this fresco (wall painting) Leonardo decided not to use the traditional water-based paint, which makes areas of color appear distinct and does not allow for shading. Instead, he experimented with oil-based paint, which is more easily blended, but his efforts were unsuccessful. The paint did not adhere well to the wall, and within fifty years the scene became a confused series of spots. Last Supper was an important work, however, because it represented another new approach. Earlier Renaissance artists had applied the rules of linear perspective to show that objects appear smaller as they are farther away from the eye of the viewer. Leonardo combined this principle with two others: the perspective of clarity (distant objects gradually lose their separateness and hence are not drawn with outlines) and perspective of color (distant objects gradually take on gray tones). He wrote about both of these techniques in his notebooks.

In 1503 he was invited to paint a large-scale fresco that celebrated the Battle of Anghiara, in which Florence defeated Milan in 1440. The fresco was to be painted on the walls of the newly built Council Chamber of the Republic in the Palazzo della Signoria in Florence. Leonardo experimented with an oil-based paint on a primed (prepared with a sealing substance) wall surface. This process proved to be ineffective because the paint did not dry. The central section of the composition, which was destroyed during a restoration project in 1565, is now known through numerous copies made during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Shortly after Leonardo began the Battle of Anghiara his younger rival, Michelangelo Buonarroti (known as Michelangelo; 1475–1564), was commissioned to paint Battle of Cascina, another celebrated Florentine victory, for the same room in the Palazzo della Signoria. In 1503, while working on the Anghiara project Leonardo started painting the Mona Lisa. It is a portrait of Lisa di Anton Giocondo, the young wife of the prominent Florentine citizen Francesco del Giocondo. The Mona Lisa became one of the most famous portraits in European art because of Lisa's mysterious smile, which is in the process of either appearing or disappearing.

Records ideas in notebooks

In the 1490s Leonardo began keeping notebooks in which he recorded his ideas on a wide range of topics. He also illustrated the notebooks with drawings that demonstrated his ideas. He was working on the notebooks when he died in 1519. Following are five excerpts from Leonardo's notebooks, which reflect his ideas on art and the wide range of his interests.

Things to Remember While Reading Excerpts from Selections from the Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci:

1. Leonardo was particularly interested in science, which for him was closely related to art. For instance, he studied anatomy in order to understand the human form so he could paint realistic figures. The first excerpt is a series of notes he made on the ideas of the ancient Roman architect and engineer Marcellus Vitruvius Pollio (called Vitruvius; first century b.c.e.), who studied the proportions of the human body. Leonardo illustrated the proportions in his famous drawing Vitruvian Man (1492).
2. Leonardo's famous fresco Battle of Anghiara was destroyed, but copies were made during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As indicated in a copy made by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens in 1615, Leonardo depicted the extreme physical exertion of men and horses engaged in furious battle. The group of central figures displays faces distorted by rage or pain. Even the heads of the horses, with flaring nostrils and gnashing teeth, were treated in this expressive manner. The second notebook excerpt, in which Leonardo gave detailed instructions on painting a battle scene, shows how he may have achieved the effects in Battle of Anghiara.
3. In the third excerpt Leonardo reflected the Renaissance view of the artist as a creative genius. Notice that he believed painting could not be taught, and that the artist has a special talent for giving an exact representation of nature. Leonardo ranked painting as a science, even suggesting a comparison between the artist and God. This was a revolutionary idea, because in the Middle Ages artists had been considered ordinary craftsmen who were inferior to scientists and other thinkers. Also the artist was regarded as a mere vehicle for reflecting the glory of God, but, like the Renaissance humanists, Leonardo elevated the painter to the position of supreme creator.
4. Leonardo had a lifelong interest in architecture. Although no buildings designed by him are known to exist, he was involved in designing and planning various architectural projects. The fourth notebook excerpt is his plan for a house. Notice that each part of the house has a specific function, which fits harmoniously into the entire space.
5. Leonardo designed many mechanical devices. His best-known invention was a flying machine, which he designed by observing bird flight and the motions of air. The fifth excerpt is the notes he wrote about his flying machine.

What happened next…

Leonardo had considerable influence on artists of his own day and later times. Some of his views on art, which had been circulating since the sixteenth century, were published in 1651 in Trattato della pittura (Treatise on painting). This is a collection of his writings taken from numerous manuscripts. The small number of Leonardo's surviving paintings show his achievements as an artist. He made contributions to every artistic form, from portraits to religious narratives. He gave new insights into figure grouping, space, individual characterization, and light and shade. Many of his works inspired copies. In Florence his compositions were carefully studied by the great painter Raphael. Leonardo's Battle of Anghiara and Michelangelo's design for Battle of Cascina were the "school for the world," in the words of Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571). Even in the nineteenth century, long after Battle of Anghiara had disappeared, aspects of its design continued to intrigue artists throughout Europe.

Did you know…

• Leonardo designed a submarine. He wrote in his notebook, however, that he would "not publish or divulge [the design] on account of the evil nature of men who would practise assassinations at the bottom of the seas by breaking the ships in their lowest parts and sinking them together with the crews who are in them; although I will furnish particulars of others which are not dangerous, for above the surface of the water emerges the mouth of a tube by which they draw breath, supported upon wine skins or pieces of cork."

For More Information

Books

Gelb, Michael. How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day. New York: Delacorte Press, 1998.

Lafferty, Peter. Leonardo da Vinci. New York: Bookwright, 1990.

Nuland, Sherwin B. Leonardo da Vinci. New York: Viking, 2000.

Richter, Irma A., ed. Selections from the Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.

Video Recordings

Masterpieces of Italian Art. Volume: Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. New York: VPI-AC Video Inc., 1990.

Web Sites

"Leonardo da Vinci." Artcyclopedia. [Online] Available http://artcyclopedia.com/artists/leonardo_da_vinci.html, April 10, 2002.

"Leonardo da Vinci," MSN Encarta. [Online] Available http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761561520, April 10, 2002.

"Leonardo da Vinci." National Museum of Science and Technology. [Online] Available http://www.museoscienza.org/english/leonardo/leonardo.html, April 10, 2002.

Pioch, Nicolas. "Leonardo da Vinci." WebMuseum. [Online] Available http://mexplaza.udg.mx/wm/paint/auth/vinci/, April 10, 2002.