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The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Volume 2
Scientist, painter, mechanical engineer, sculptor, thinker, city planner, storyteller, musician, architect — Leonardo da Vinci, builder of the first flying machine, was one of the great universal geniuses of Western civilization. His voluminous notebooks, the great storehouse of his theories and discoveries, are presented here in 1566 extracts that reveal the full range of Leonardo's versatile interest: all the important writings on painting, sculpture, architecture, anatomy, astronomy, geography, topography, and other fields are included, in both Italian and English, with 186 plates of manuscript pages and many other drawings reproduced in facsimile size.
The first volume, which contains all of Leonardo's writings on aspects of painting, includes discussions of such basic scientific areas as the structure of the eye and vision, perspective, the science of light and shade, the perspective of disappearance, theory of color, perspective of color, proportions and movements of the human figure, botany for painters, and the elements of landscape painting. A section on the practice of painting includes moral precepts for painters and writings on composition, materials, and the philosophy of art. The second volume contains writings on sculpture, architecture (plans for towns, streets, and canals, churches, palaces, castles, and villas, theoretical writings on arches, domes, fissures, etc.), zoology, physiology (including his amazingly accurate theories of blood circulation), medicine, astronomy, geography (including has famous writings and drawings on the movement of water), topography (observations in Italy, France, and other areas), naval warfare, swimming, theory of flying machines, mining, music, and other topics.
A selection of philosophical maxims, morals, polemics, fables, jests, studies in the lives and habits of animals, tales, and prophecies display Leonardo's abilities as a writer and scholar. The second volume also contains some letters, personal records, inventories, and accounts, and concludes with Leonardo's will. The drawings include sketches and studies for some of Leonardo's greatest works of art — The Last Supper, the lost Battle of Anghiari, The Virgin of the Rocks, and the destroyed Sforza monument.
The first volume, which contains all of Leonardo's writings on aspects of painting, includes discussions of such basic scientific areas as the structure of the eye and vision, perspective, the science of light and shade, the perspective of disappearance, theory of color, perspective of color, proportions and movements of the human figure, botany for painters, and the elements of landscape painting. A section on the practice of painting includes moral precepts for painters and writings on composition, materials, and the philosophy of art. The second volume contains writings on sculpture, architecture (plans for towns, streets, and canals, churches, palaces, castles, and villas, theoretical writings on arches, domes, fissures, etc.), zoology, physiology (including his amazingly accurate theories of blood circulation), medicine, astronomy, geography (including has famous writings and drawings on the movement of water), topography (observations in Italy, France, and other areas), naval warfare, swimming, theory of flying machines, mining, music, and other topics.
A selection of philosophical maxims, morals, polemics, fables, jests, studies in the lives and habits of animals, tales, and prophecies display Leonardo's abilities as a writer and scholar. The second volume also contains some letters, personal records, inventories, and accounts, and concludes with Leonardo's will. The drawings include sketches and studies for some of Leonardo's greatest works of art — The Last Supper, the lost Battle of Anghiari, The Virgin of the Rocks, and the destroyed Sforza monument.
576 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
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About the author
Leonardo da Vinci
925 books1,522 followersIt was on April 15, 1452, that Leonardo was born in the town of Vinci, Republic of Florence, in what is now in Italy, the illegitimate son of a notary and a barmaid. It is from his birthplace that he is known as Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo seemed to master every subject to which he turned his attention: he was a painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer, wrote poetry and stories: the prototype Renaissance man!
His Last Supper (1495-97) and Mona Lisa (La Gioconda, 1503-06) are among the most popular paintings from the Renaissance. He and his rival Michelangelo did great service to the medical arts by accurate paintings of dissections, which were only occasionally allowed by the Church. Yet, his artistry appeared to be an afterthought, as he frequently left his works unfinished, and only about fifteen of his paintings survive. His notebooks reveal that he was centuries ahead of his time in mechanics and physic, fortifications, bridges, weapons, and river diversions to flood the enemy, which aided Italian city-states in their many wars.
Leonardo was an early evolutionist regarding fossils. Through his careful observations he noted that “if the shells had been carried by the muddy deluge they would have been mixed up, and separated from each other amidst the mud, and not in regular steps and layers — as we see them now in our time.” Leonardo reasoned that what is now dry land, where these aquatic fossils were found, must once have been covered by seawater.
He was for a short time accused of homosexuality: there is no evidence Leonardo had any sexual interest in women. As he wrote in his notebooks, “The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions.”
And what of his religion? It is significant that at the end of his life he felt he had much spiritual negligence to atone for. His first biographer, Giorgio Vasari, wrote in 1550:
"Finally, …feeling himself near to death, [he] asked to have himself diligently informed of the teaching of the Catholic faith, and of the good way and holy Christian religion; and then, with many moans, he confessed and was penitent; and … was pleased to take devoutly the most holy Sacrament, out of his bed. The King, who was wont often and lovingly to visit him, then came into the room; wherefore he, out of reverence … showed withal how much he had offended God and mankind in not having worked at his art as he should have done."
There was much skepticism in Renaissance Italy at the time, and Leonardo was an intellectual genius, not just an artistic genius. While there was great intellectual freedom during the Italian Renaissance, there were limits as long as the Dominicans, the “Hounds of the Lord,” were active. This semblance of a deathbed conversion, by so critical a thinker and so great a genius as Leonardo, who would have nothing to lose by professing piety all his life, can only mean that during his prime years he was a secret freethinker.
Leonardo died quietly on the 2 of May, 1519, a few weeks following his 67th birthday.
His Last Supper (1495-97) and Mona Lisa (La Gioconda, 1503-06) are among the most popular paintings from the Renaissance. He and his rival Michelangelo did great service to the medical arts by accurate paintings of dissections, which were only occasionally allowed by the Church. Yet, his artistry appeared to be an afterthought, as he frequently left his works unfinished, and only about fifteen of his paintings survive. His notebooks reveal that he was centuries ahead of his time in mechanics and physic, fortifications, bridges, weapons, and river diversions to flood the enemy, which aided Italian city-states in their many wars.
Leonardo was an early evolutionist regarding fossils. Through his careful observations he noted that “if the shells had been carried by the muddy deluge they would have been mixed up, and separated from each other amidst the mud, and not in regular steps and layers — as we see them now in our time.” Leonardo reasoned that what is now dry land, where these aquatic fossils were found, must once have been covered by seawater.
He was for a short time accused of homosexuality: there is no evidence Leonardo had any sexual interest in women. As he wrote in his notebooks, “The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions.”
And what of his religion? It is significant that at the end of his life he felt he had much spiritual negligence to atone for. His first biographer, Giorgio Vasari, wrote in 1550:
"Finally, …feeling himself near to death, [he] asked to have himself diligently informed of the teaching of the Catholic faith, and of the good way and holy Christian religion; and then, with many moans, he confessed and was penitent; and … was pleased to take devoutly the most holy Sacrament, out of his bed. The King, who was wont often and lovingly to visit him, then came into the room; wherefore he, out of reverence … showed withal how much he had offended God and mankind in not having worked at his art as he should have done."
There was much skepticism in Renaissance Italy at the time, and Leonardo was an intellectual genius, not just an artistic genius. While there was great intellectual freedom during the Italian Renaissance, there were limits as long as the Dominicans, the “Hounds of the Lord,” were active. This semblance of a deathbed conversion, by so critical a thinker and so great a genius as Leonardo, who would have nothing to lose by professing piety all his life, can only mean that during his prime years he was a secret freethinker.
Leonardo died quietly on the 2 of May, 1519, a few weeks following his 67th birthday.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 18, 2011
I must have picked this up in 1973 or so...after becoming very interested in LdV after watching the great PBS 1973 miniseries "The Life of Leornardo".
I spent hours and hours studying and copying his drawings, reading his notes, and being amazed at what a genius he was. This book is worth buying just to see the amazing pen and ink drawings that he did, especially the landscapes.
I spent hours and hours studying and copying his drawings, reading his notes, and being amazed at what a genius he was. This book is worth buying just to see the amazing pen and ink drawings that he did, especially the landscapes.
December 6, 2018
This second volume of the old Jean Paul Richter selection of Da Vinci notebooks contains everything from architecture and anatomy to jokes (mostly lame) and shopping lists. There are a couple of letters and maps that suggest Da Vinci might have been in Armenia, Turkey and Syria for a time (he did have a brother living in Constantinople), and some other interesting tidbits.
Richter was mostly interested in the entries on painting and sculpture, less so in his science, and very little in his machinery and military work. In this volume, especially, I felt that what he'd left out might interest me more than what he included, except for the anatomy notes and architecture. It's interesting seeing his theoretical drawings of the various kinds of churches (he favored a Greek cross design over the Latin cross design), and how one would organize the domes and towers. He includes drawings of existing churches, but we get a sort of Chinese menu of all the valid forms, in his opinion. Clearly he was ready, if anybody asked him to design a church, chapel, or cathedral.
In one rather cynical passage he makes this assertion about some of his fellow beings: "Some there are who are nothing else than a passage for food and augmentors of excrement and fillers of privies, because through them no other things in the world, nor any good effects are produced, since nothing but full privies results from them." Ouch.
I was impressed by his pre-scientific assertion of a principle of the modern era: "There is no certainty in sciences where one of the mathematical sciences cannot be applied, or which are not in relation with these mathematics."
One wishes there were more context, since some of his early notes describe a Ptolemaic universe, but section #886 has this pithy assertion, all by itself: "The sun does not move." Is he asserting what would get Galileo in trouble a century and more in the future??
The guy was interesting, and we have an awful lot of text; so it's a bit weird that it's still so very fragmentary. He thought about publication, he worked toward publication, but all ever actually did was assemble notes.
I'm glad I finally read this through. I look forward to seeing some of his work when we travel to Italy next year, and some museum displays.
Richter was mostly interested in the entries on painting and sculpture, less so in his science, and very little in his machinery and military work. In this volume, especially, I felt that what he'd left out might interest me more than what he included, except for the anatomy notes and architecture. It's interesting seeing his theoretical drawings of the various kinds of churches (he favored a Greek cross design over the Latin cross design), and how one would organize the domes and towers. He includes drawings of existing churches, but we get a sort of Chinese menu of all the valid forms, in his opinion. Clearly he was ready, if anybody asked him to design a church, chapel, or cathedral.
In one rather cynical passage he makes this assertion about some of his fellow beings: "Some there are who are nothing else than a passage for food and augmentors of excrement and fillers of privies, because through them no other things in the world, nor any good effects are produced, since nothing but full privies results from them." Ouch.
I was impressed by his pre-scientific assertion of a principle of the modern era: "There is no certainty in sciences where one of the mathematical sciences cannot be applied, or which are not in relation with these mathematics."
One wishes there were more context, since some of his early notes describe a Ptolemaic universe, but section #886 has this pithy assertion, all by itself: "The sun does not move." Is he asserting what would get Galileo in trouble a century and more in the future??
The guy was interesting, and we have an awful lot of text; so it's a bit weird that it's still so very fragmentary. He thought about publication, he worked toward publication, but all ever actually did was assemble notes.
I'm glad I finally read this through. I look forward to seeing some of his work when we travel to Italy next year, and some museum displays.
November 18, 2011
I had a research about Leonardo da Vinci to do in Arabic, and I have to say, this came quite handy for understanding his great work, and for making it easier to present. Very good for any Leonardo enthusiast. The first book was a bit less interesting in my opinion though.
March 25, 2008
Facinating insight into the mind of a genius, with one of the most important factors for me - the original text in the original language next to an English translation.
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April 2, 2013Would recommend this one out of the 2 volumes, unless you want to read a WHOLE lot about the technicalities of painting. Volume 2 is more reflective of his vast curiosity.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews