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Leonardo Da Vinci : the Marvellous Works of Nature and Man / Martin Kemp.-- Revd

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Leonardo Da Vinci : the Marvellous Works of Nature and Man / Martin Kemp.-- Revd ‘The human race in its marvellous and varied works seems to reveal itself as a second nature in this world.’ (B.L.151v) PRAISE FOR MARTIN KEMP’S LEONARDO ‘Leonardo seen from the inside out’ The New Yorker ‘Excellent’ Sunday Telegraph ‘orchestrates the available information effortlessly . [a] magisterial text’ Lisa Jardine, Guardian ‘Illuminating’ Peter Ackroyd, The Times ‘A succinct introduction . by one of the world’s foremost authorities’ Independent ‘filled with fresh thought . Kemp has succeeded at something that is possible only after years of reflection’ Los Angeles Times ‘Excites the reader’s admiration for the restless vitality of the man and his ideas . .’ Washington Post Book World The Marvellous Works of Nature and Man MARTIN KEMP 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Martin Kemp, 2006 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Kemp, Martin. Leonardo da Vinci : the marvellous works of nature and man / Martin Kemp.-- Revd. ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN–13: 978–0–19–280725–0 (alk. paper) ISBN–10: 0–19–280725–0 (alk. paper) 1. Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452–1519––Criticism and interpretation. I. Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452–1519. II. Title. N6923.L33K45 2006 709.2--dc22 2005034752 Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed and bound by Lito Terrazzi s.r.l. Italy ISBN 0–19–280725–0 978–0–19–280725–0 10987654321 Contents list of plates vii list of colour plates xii list of figures xiii preface to the 1981 edition xvii preface to this edition xx acknowledgements, 1981 and 2006 xxv abbreviations and references xxviii I ‘Leonardo da Firenze’ 1 II The Microcosm 71 III The Exercise of Fantasia 137 IV The Republic: New Battles and Old Problems 204 V The Prime Mover 271 bibliography 349 index 367 photographic acknowledgements 382 This revised edition is dedicated to Gheri Sackler. List of Plates All the illustrated works are by Leonardo unless otherwise indicated. 1 Giotto, Christ before the High Priest (c. 1305), Padua, Arena Chapel (Capella Scrovegni) 3 2 Masaccio, The Trinity with the Virgin, St John and Donors (c. 1426–7), Florence, S. Maria Novella 8 3 Antonio Pollaiuolo, Battle of the Nude Men (c. 1475?), engraving, London, British Museum 17 4 Verrocchio (and workshop?), Madonna and Child in Front of a Ruined Basilica (The ‘Ruskin Madonna’) (c. 1470–3), Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland 20 5 Studies of Heads and Machines (1478), pen and ink, Florence, Uffizi 22 6 Study of a Warrior in Profile (c. 1476), metalpoint, London, British Museum 24 7 Verrocchio, Study of a Lady’s Head with Elaborate Coiffure (c. 1474), black chalk, bistre and white, London, British Museum 25 8 Study of a Lily (Lilium candidum) (c. 1473), black chalk, pen and ink and wash, Windsor, Royal Library (12418) 27 9 Ginevra de’ Benci (1476–8), Heraldic Motive on reverse, Washington, National Gallery of Art, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund 29 10 Study of a Tuscan Landscape (1473), pen and ink, Florence, Uffizi 30 11 Study for a Madonna’s (?) Head (c. 1481), metalpoint, Louvre, Paris 33 12 Study for the Madonna and Child with a Cat (c. 1480–2), pen and ink, London, British Museum 35 13 Study for the Madonna and Child with a Cat (c. 1480–2), pen and ink and wash, London, British Museum (reverse of Plate 12) 36 14 Verrocchio, Putto with a Dolphin (c. 1470), Florence, Palazzo Vecchio 39 15 Studies for the Bust of an Infant (c. 1495), red chalk, Windsor, Royal Library (12519 and 12567) 41 16 Four Studies of a Horse’s Foreleg (c. 1490), metalpoint, Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts 42 17 Studies of a Woman’s Head and Shoulders (c. 1478), metalpoint, Windsor, Royal Library (12513) 44 18 Filippo Lippi and Fra Angelico, Adoration of the Magi (c. 1455), Washington, National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection 45 VIII LIST OF PLATES 19 Compositional Study for the Adoration (1481), metalpoint, pen and ink, Paris, Louvre 47 20 Studies of Figures in Conversation and Movement, a Madonna and Child, a Last Supper and a Hygrometer (1481), metalpoint, pen and ink, Paris, Louvre 48 21 Perspective Study for the Adoration (1481), metalpoint, pen and ink and wash, Florence, Uffizi 50 22 Studies of Hands for the Adoration (c. 1481), metalpoint, Windsor, Royal Library (12616: photographed under ultra-violet light) 53 23 St Jerome (c. 1480), Rome, Vatican 56 24 Mechanical Studies (1478), pen and ink, Florence, Uffizi (reverse of Plate 5) 59 25 Mechanical Studies (c. 1478), pen and ink, Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana (C.A.1054r) 60 26 Design for a Mechanism for Repelling Ladders (c. 1481), pen and ink, Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana (C.A.139r) 61 27 Devices for Raising Water and Other Studies (c. 1480), pen and ink and wash, Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana (C.A.1069r) 63 28 Design for an Automatic File Engraver (c. 1481), pen and ink and wash, Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana (C.A.24r) 64 29 Waterclock, Sundial, Geometrical Studies, etc. (c. 1481), pen and ink, Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana (C.A.42v) 66 30 Study for the Tiburio of Milan Cathedral (c. 1487), pen and ink, Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana (C.A.850r) 87 31 Design for a Centralized ‘Temple’ (c. 1488), black chalk, pen and ink and wash, Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Institut de France (Ash.I, 5v) 91 32 Cross Sections of the Human Skull (1489), pen and ink, Windsor, Royal Library (19057r) 94 33 Proportional Study of a Man in the Manner of Vitruvius (c. 1487), pen and ink, Venice, Accademia 97 34 Design for a Multi-level Town (c. 1488), pen and ink, Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Institut de France (B.16r) 99 35 Design for Canals, Tunnels and Arcades (c. 1488), pen and ink, Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Institut de France (B.37v) 100 36 Design for an Equalizing Device for a Barrel Spring (c. 1499), Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional (I, 45r) 102 37 Study of Five Characters (c. 1494), pen and ink, Windsor, Royal Library (12495r) 143 38 Study for an Allegory of Justice and Prudence (c. 1494), pen and ink, Oxford, Christ Church 152 LIST OF PLATES IX 39 Unknown architect, Piazza Ducale and Entrance Tower of the Castello at Vigevano (early 1490s) 159 40 Design for a Napping Machine (c. 1497), pen and ink, Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana (C.A.1105r) 161 41 Designs for a Scythed Chariot, Armoured Vehicle and Partisan (c. 1487), pen and ink and wash, London, British Museum 162 42 Men Struggling to Move a Huge Cannon (c. 1488), pen and ink, Windsor, Royal Library (12647) 164 43 Leonardo and workshop, Sala delle Asse, detail of Vault Decoration showing the Central Oculus (1498–), Milan, Castello Sforzesco 169 44 Sala delle Asse, detail of Decoration above North-East Window 170 45 Sala delle Asse, detail of Decoration in Southern Corner 170 46 Leonardo workshop, Sala delle Asse, Roots, Rocks and Plants on the North- Eastern Wall 171 47 Last Supper (c. 1495–7), Milan, Refectory of S. Maria delle Grazie 177 48 Study for the Last Supper, with Method of Constructing an Octagon and Arithmetical Calculation (c. 1495–6), pen and ink, Windsor, Royal Library (12542) 180 49 Study for the Head of St James the Greater in the Last Supper and a Domed Corner Pavilion for the Castello Sforzesco (?) (c. 1496), red chalk, pen and ink, Windsor, Royal Library (12552) 181 50 Musician (c. 1485), Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana 190 51 Study of a Horseman on a Rearing Horse above a Fallen Enemy (c. 1485–9), silverpoint, Windsor, Royal Library (12358r) 192 52 Study of a Horse in Profile and from the Front (c. 1490), silverpoint, Windsor, Royal Library (12321) 194 53 Design for a Casting Hood for a Horse’s Head (c. 1491–3), red chalk, Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid (II, 157r) 196 54 Cristo Fanciullo (Young Christ) (c. 1496), terracotta, private collection 200 55 Statuette of a Standing Horse (c. 1493), wax, private collection 202 56 Infra-red reflectogram of the Lansdowne Madonna, Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence 212 57 Cartoon for the Madonna, Child, St Anne (?) and St John (c. 1508), London, National Gallery 215 58 Study for the Cartoon of the Madonna, Child, St Anne (?) and St John (c. 1508), black chalk, pen and ink and wash, London, British Museum 216 59 Map of Imola (1502), pen and ink with watercolour, Windsor, Royal Library (12284) 220 60 Study for the Arno Canal (c.
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