DOCSLIB.ORG

Engineers of the Renaissance

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Engineers of the Renaissance Bertrand Gille Engineers of the Renaissance . II IIIII The M.I.T.Press Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts ' ... � {' ( l..-'1 b 1:-' TA18 .G!41J 1966 METtTLIBRARY En&Jneersor theRenaissance. 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 0020119043 Copyright @ 1966 by Hermann, Paris Translated from Les ingenieurs de la Renaissance published by Hermann, Paris, in 1964 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-27213 Printed in Great Britain Contents List of illustrations page 6 Preface 9 Chapter I The Weight of Tradition 15 2 The Weight of Civilization 3 5 3 The German School 55 4 The First Italian Generation 79 5 Francesco di Giorgio Martini 101 Cj 6 An Engineer's Career -Leonardo da Vinci 121 "'"" f:) 7 Leonardo da Vinci- Technician 143 ��"'t�; 8 Essay on Leonardo da Vinci's Method 171 �� w·· Research and Reality ' ·· 9 191 �' ll:"'t"- 10 The New Science 217 '"i ...........,_ .;::,. Conclusion 240 -... " Q: \.., Bibliography 242 �'� :::.(' Catalogue of Manuscripts 247 0 " .:; Index 254 � \j B- 13 da Page Leonardo Vinci: study of workers' positions. List of illustrations 18 Apollodorus ofDamascus: scaling machine. Apollodorus of Damascus: apparatus for pouring boiling liquid over ramparts. 19 Apollodorus ofDamascus: observation platform with protective shield. Apollodorus of Damascus: cover of a tortoise. Apollodorus ofDamascus: fire lit in a wall andfanned from a distance by bellows with a long nozzle. 20 Hero of Byzantium: assault tower. 21 Hero of :Byzantium: cover of a tortoise. 24 Villard de Honnecourt: hydraulic saw; 25 Villard de Honnecourt: pile saw. Villard de Honnecourt: screw-jack. , 26 Villard de Honnecourt: trebuchet. Villard de Honnecourt: mechanism of mobile angel. 27 Villard de Honnecourt: articulated eagle. 28 Guido da Vigevano: boat with propellers"" Guido da Vigevano: pivoting assault tower. 29 Guido da Vigevano: blown-up s� for crossing rivers. Guido da Vigeva!!o: assault tower with mobile platform. Guido da Vigevano: bridge floating on casks. 30 Guido da Vigevano: assault chariot with tower and cranking system. 31 da Guido Vigevano: chariot, fitted with scythes, pulled by oxen. 35 1507. Printing pre�s in 37 Spinning w!J,eel (English fourteenth-century MS). 41 The mills at Corbeil under Louis XI. 43 Glass-making in Bohemia- fifteenth century. 48 1396)., Chariot with movable front wheels (Carrara seal, Two-pedal treadle lathe (stained glass at Chartres). 49 Blast furnace (English drawing of sixteenth century). Pole lathe (French fourteenth-century MS). 51 Metallurgical workshops by H. Bles- sixteenth century. 57 \ German primitive: cannon with screw lift.· German primitive: trebuchet. 58 ribeaudequin Kyeser: with human face. ' , Kyeser: artillery-carrying chariot. (mus). Kyeser: shelter on wheels for miners and soldiers 59 , Kyeser: fantastic chariot. Kyeser: shelter. Kyeser: trebuchet. 6o ( ) Kyeser: fantastic ram cattHs . with Kyeser: cannon shelter.,' . , ., . Kyeser: trebuchet. ,' 6! Cann(jn( culy��)- K yeser: long-barrelled � t r:'.',:cX �� cannon:< Kyeser: rotating ' · hliu:I��!::All � p.n\ (t�cklea).. Kyeser: escalading 62 a11cl.a;V:hf�-P:�9J'9J:ea, ship. Kyeser: mobile b�ictges 63 � ::' Kyeser: part of a o � ,� itig�;bi �,%S}�;i/�.,,�Jc�"� i···, ,, ,--,,• .-,,'';c.. �·-·--·_ �> ,· . .,s >_;?l:�02�i�'�J.:Uc'J ", .. : : :�� Page 63 Kyeser: mill with overshot wheel. Page II4 Francesco di Giorgio: striking mechanism for clock. Kyeser: fight between divers. Francesco di Giorgio: multiple position lifting apparatus. 64 Kyeser: Archimedean screw. II5 Francesco di Giorgio: pile drivers. Hussite MS: horse carrying fire. II7 Francesco di Giorgio: column raising machine. II9 Fortress ofNettuno (1501-2). 65 Handmill in the castle at Sion in Switzerland: :fifteenth century. Fortress of Civitacastellana ( 1494-7). 66 E:yeser: raising apparatus with windmills. Fortress of Civitavecchia (1515). 67 The Lii.neburg crane. Fifteenth century. 122 Leonardo da Vinci: underwater breathing apparatus. 125 Leonardo da Vinci: assault chariot with guns. 68 Hussite MS: cannonwith lift. · Hussite MS: double lifting machine. Leonardo da Vinci: super cannon. 126 69 Hussite MS: machine for hollowing wooden pipes. Leonardo da Vinci: Hussite MS: machine for boring cannon. study for the casting of the horse of the Sforza statue. 129 Hussite MS: windmill. Leonardo da Vinci: bellows. 70 Hussite MS: diving suit. 134 Section of thegreat tower of Toulon (1514-24). 135 Chiteau d'If- fifteenth century. 71 Hussite MS: stone polishing machine. 137 Leonardo da Vinci: alembics Hussite MS: handmill with rod and crank system. 138 Lnnulae by Leonardo da Vinci. 72 Hussite MS: different types of flywheels. 144 Leonardo da Vinci: lifting-jack. 74 Heidelberg compilation: mobile crane. 145 Leonardo da Vinci: forging machine. 75 Munich MS: cannon. 146 Ship, 1493· 76 Munich MS: machine for boring cannon. c. 147 Early sixteenth-century ship. 8r Fontana: mechanism for automaton. Leonardo da Vinci: metal smelting furnaces. 82 Fontana: rock-clearing machine. 148 Leonardo da Vinci: types of fortification. 84 Taccola: ram� · 149 Pentagon for laying-out fortifications by Leonardo da Taccola: trebuchet. Vinci. Taccola: scaling machine. · 150 Leonardo da Vinci: types of fortification withfield of fire. 85 Taccola: machine for hollowing wooden pipes. 151 Leonardo da Vinci: drilling machine for wooden beams. Taccola: water-pump. Leonardo daVinci: building on different levek Taccola: suction and pressure pump. 152 Geometrical plan of a basilica by Leonardo da Vinci. 86 Taccola: hydraulic bellows. 153 Leonardo da Vinci: hoisting apparatus. 87 Tacc�la: destruction of a castle with mines and powder. 154 Leonardo da Vinci: parabolic swing bridge. 88 Evolution of chariot driven by windmills: · 155 Leonardo da Vinci: Archimedean screw and noria. Guido daVigevano. Leonardo da Vinci: machine for earthmoving. Valturio. 156 Leonardo da Vinci: dredger. Taccola. 157 Leonardo da Vinci: pincers. 89 Valturio: trebuchet. 158 Leonardo da Vinci: bow lathe. 91 Valturio: espringal. 159 Leonardo da Vinci: treadle lathe. 94 Filarete: refining oven. 160 Leonardo da Vinci: printing press. 96 Ghiberti: bellows. Leonardo da Vinci: machine for cutting wooden screws. Ghiberti: model for bell-making. 161 Leonardo da Vinci: mirror polishing apparatus. 97 N eroni: cannons 163 Various textile processes (fifteenth-century miniature). a. screw lift. b. quadrant lift. c. rack lift. 164 Leonardo da Vinci: automatic weaving machine. 99 Neroni: bellows. 165 Leonardo da Vinci: cloth carding machine. 107 Francesco di Giorgio: mine showing powder and 166 Leonardo da Vinci: cloth shearing machine. various instruments. 167 Leonardo da Vinci: machine for shearing caps. 109 Section of the San Michele tower at Ostiaby Michelangelo. 168 Leonardo da Vinci: studies for flying-machine. no Francesco di Giorgio: hydraulic turbine. 172 Leonardo da Vinci: types of gears. Francesco di Giorgio: types of gears. 173 Alignment of pinion axis in relation to the centre of the III Francesco di Giorgio: hydraulic saw. toothed-wheel and the effects of wear. Francesco di Giorgio: hand mill with ball g<;>ve�or. Drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. II2 Francesco di Giorgio: 'automobile' vehicle. 175 Leonardo da Vinci: studies of transmission mechanisms. Page 178 Leonardo da Vinci: apparatus for measuring resistanceto traction. r 83 Action of falling water on a mill wheel by Leonardo da Vinci. r86 Leonardo da Vinci: windmill. Leonardo da Vinci: mechanical spit. r88 Leonardo da Vinci: stages in the construction of a steam engine. 193 The mine of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines by H. Gross - sixteenth century. 195 Mine working by Gassen, 1544. I96 Apparatus for polishing preciousstones (c. I470). _ 197 Agricola's reversible hoist (sixteenth century). 198 Biringuccio: reduction furnace. 199 Silk mill (Florentine MS. 1487). Loom (Nuremburg, end of fifteenth century). c 2or WelLat Orvieto constructe Lby San Gallo, c.r530. 203 Floods in the region of Dordrecht in 1421. 205 Dredger by Breughel the Younger- sixteenth century. 212 Section of the Langres bastion (about 1495). 213 Fortifications of La Fere (r540). Fortifications of Saint-Dizier (r544). 222 Diagramof a conical section after Durer. 223 Hollow polyhedron by Leonardo da Vinci. Hollow polyhedron by Leonardo da Vinci. 226 Trajectories of a cannon-ball by Leonardo da Vinci. 227 Attempt to determine the effects of percussion by Leonardo da Vinci. 233 Dondi: Clockwork mechanism (r340). Preface 9 Any study of the engineers of the Renaissance is inevitably domin­ ated and somewhat falsified by the great figure of Leonardo da Vinci. So many books have been written about him and so much praise has been meted out to him that his predecessors, and even his contemporaries, have sunk into oblivion. It is very difficult to re-establish them. There have been some attempts to strike a correct balance, but these, it seems, have failed. This view, persistent and widespread, has led us, after long and patient research, to attempt a more complete picture of the great movement of ideas that extends throughout the fifteenth century. We shall end up with a better understanding of the men whose writings Leonardo may not have read but whom he certainly met, listened to, and respected. The first stage in this study has therefore been devoted to the pre­ decessors of Leonardo da Vinci. It has been a thankless and difficult task, but an absorbing one. Our authors are very little known and willdoubtless long remain so, unless discoveries are made in libraries; their works,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Proquest Dissertations
    PANORAMA, POWER, AND HISTORY: VASARI AND STRADANO'S CITY VIEWS IN THE PALAZZO VECCHIO Pt.I by Ryan E. Gregg A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland May 2008 © 2008 Ryan E. Gregg AH Rights Reserved UMI Number: 3339721 Copyright 2008 by Gregg, Ryan E. All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3339721 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway PO Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract Painted topographical views of cities and their environs appear throughout the mid-sixteenth-century fresco decorations of the Palazzo Vecchio. This project focuses primarily on the most extensive series, those in the Quartiere di Leone X. Giorgio Vasari and his assistant Giovanni Stradano painted the five rooms of this apartment between 1556 and 1561. The city views take one of three forms in each painting: as a setting for a historical scene, as the background of an allegory, or as the subject of the view itself.
    [Show full text]
  • Transfer of Islamic Science to the West
    Transfer of Islamic Science to the West IMPORTANT NOTICE: Author: Prof. Dr. Ahmed Y. Al-Hassan Chief Editor: Prof. Dr. Mohamed El-Gomati All rights, including copyright, in the content of this document are owned or controlled for these purposes by FSTC Limited. In Production: Savas Konur accessing these web pages, you agree that you may only download the content for your own personal non-commercial use. You are not permitted to copy, broadcast, download, store (in any medium), transmit, show or play in public, adapt or Release Date: December 2006 change in any way the content of this document for any other purpose whatsoever without the prior written permission of FSTC Publication ID: 625 Limited. Material may not be copied, reproduced, republished, Copyright: © FSTC Limited, 2006 downloaded, posted, broadcast or transmitted in any way except for your own personal non-commercial home use. Any other use requires the prior written permission of FSTC Limited. You agree not to adapt, alter or create a derivative work from any of the material contained in this document or use it for any other purpose other than for your personal non-commercial use. FSTC Limited has taken all reasonable care to ensure that pages published in this document and on the MuslimHeritage.com Web Site were accurate at the time of publication or last modification. Web sites are by nature experimental or constantly changing. Hence information published may be for test purposes only, may be out of date, or may be the personal opinion of the author. Readers should always verify information with the appropriate references before relying on it.
    [Show full text]
  • A Plan of 1545 for the Fortification of Kelso Abbey | 269
    Proc Soc Antiq Scot 141 (2011), 269–278 A PLAN OF 1545 FOR THE FORTIFICATION OF KELSO ABBEY | 269 A plan of 1545 for the fortification of Kelso Abbey Richard Fawcett* ABSTRACT It has long been known from surviving correspondence that the Italian gunfounder Archangelo Arcano prepared two drawings illustrating proposals for the fortification of Kelso Abbey, following its capture by the English army under the leadership of the Earl of Hertford in 1545. It had been assumed those drawings had been lost. However, one of them has now been identified and is here published, together with a brief discussion of what it can tell us about the abbey in the mid-16th century. The purpose of this contribution is to bring to in fact, represent that abbey (Atherton 1995– wider attention a pre-Reformation plan that 6), though there was then no basis for offering had for long been thought to represent Burton- an alternative identification. on-Trent Benedictine Abbey, but that has It was Nicholas Cooper who established recently been identified by Nicholas Cooper the connection between the drawing and as a proposal of 1545 for fortifying Kelso’s a hitherto presumed lost proposal for the Tironensian Abbey. The plan in question fortification of Kelso, when he was working (RIBA 69226) was among a small number of on the architectural activities of William Paget papers deposited by the Marquess of Anglesey at Burton-on-Trent for a paper to be delivered with the Royal Institute of British Architects, to the Society of Antiquaries of London.2 whose collections are now absorbed into the Proposals for fortifying Kelso were known Drawings and Archives Collections of the to have been drawn by the Italian gunfounder Victoria and Albert Museum.
    [Show full text]
  • Copying, Commonplaces, and Technical Knowledge: the Architect-Engineer As Reader
    COPYING, COMMONPLACES, AND TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE: THE ARCHITECT-ENGINEER AS READER Alexander Marr I Recent work on the history of technology has drawn attention to the importance of manuscripts and, in particular, drawings for the design, construction, comprehension, and use of machines in the Renaissance and Early Modern period.1 Documents such as the workshop drawings of Antonio da Sangallo or the extensive extant papers of Heinrich Schick- hardt are now finding a place alongside better-known printed works, such as the ‘theatres of machines’ by Ramelli, Besson, and Bachot.2 Yet com- paratively little is known about the book ownership and reading habits of those artisans involved in the processes of machine design, construc- tion, and implementation. The present essay seeks to shed new light on these subjects, through an examination of an important – but somewhat neglected – manuscript compilation of text and images on technical top- ics (ranging from practical mathematics to building), made in the early seventeenth century by the French architect-engineer Jacques Gentillâtre (1578–c. 1623).3 To date, this manuscript has been discussed exclusively within the context of the theory and practice of architecture, yet the diversity of subjects with which it is concerned (notably the numerous uses to which machines may be put) demands that the document be 1 See e.g. Lefèvre W. (ed.), Picturing Machines, 1400–1700 (Cambridge, MA-London: 2004). 2 See the useful table of ‘Prominent Sources of Early Modern Machine Design’ in Lefèvre, “Introduction to Part I”, in idem, Picturing Machines 13–15. An important addition to this table is Ambroise Bachot’s theatre of machines: Gouuernail (Melun: 1598).
    [Show full text]
  • Validation of a Parametric Approach for 3D Fortification Modelling: Application to Scale Models
    International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-5/W1, 2013 3D-ARCH 2013 - 3D Virtual Reconstruction and Visualization of Complex Architectures, 25 – 26 February 2013, Trento, Italy VALIDATION OF A PARAMETRIC APPROACH FOR 3D FORTIFICATION MODELLING: APPLICATION TO SCALE MODELS K. Jacquot, C. Chevrier, G. Halin MAP-Crai (UMR 3495 CNRSMCC), ENSA Nancy, 54000 Nancy, France (jacquot, chevrier, halin)@crai.archi.fr Commission V, WG V/4 KEY WORDS: architectural heritage, bastioned fortifications, parametric modelling, knowledge based, scale model, 3D surveys ABSTRACT: Parametric modelling approach applied to cultural heritage virtual representation is a field of research explored for years since it can address many limitations of digitising tools. For example, essential historical sources for fortification virtual reconstructions like plans-reliefs have several shortcomings when they are scanned. To overcome those problems, knowledge based-modelling can be used: knowledge models based on the analysis of theoretical literature of a specific domain such as bastioned fortification treatises can be the cornerstone of the creation of a parametric library of fortification components. Implemented in Grasshopper, these components are manually adjusted on the data available (i.e. 3D surveys of plans-reliefs or scanned maps). Most of the fortification area is now modelled and the question of accuracy assessment is raised. A specific method is used to evaluate the accuracy of the parametric components. The results of the assessment process will allow us to validate the parametric approach. The automation of the adjustment process can finally be planned. The virtual model of fortification is part of a larger project aimed at valorising and diffusing a very unique cultural heritage item: the collection of plans-reliefs.
    [Show full text]
  • Defending Scilly
    Defending Scilly 46992_Text.indd 1 21/1/11 11:56:39 46992_Text.indd 2 21/1/11 11:56:56 Defending Scilly Mark Bowden and Allan Brodie 46992_Text.indd 3 21/1/11 11:57:03 Front cover Published by English Heritage, Kemble Drive, Swindon SN2 2GZ The incomplete Harry’s Walls of the www.english-heritage.org.uk early 1550s overlook the harbour and English Heritage is the Government’s statutory adviser on all aspects of the historic environment. St Mary’s Pool. In the distance on the © English Heritage 2011 hilltop is Star Castle with the earliest parts of the Garrison Walls on the Images (except as otherwise shown) © English Heritage.NMR hillside below. [DP085489] Maps on pages 95, 97 and the inside back cover are © Crown Copyright and database right 2011. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100019088. Inside front cover First published 2011 Woolpack Battery, the most heavily armed battery of the 1740s, commanded ISBN 978 1 84802 043 6 St Mary’s Sound. Its strategic location led to the installation of a Defence Product code 51530 Electric Light position in front of it in c 1900 and a pillbox was inserted into British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data the tip of the battery during the Second A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. World War. All rights reserved [NMR 26571/007] No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without Frontispiece permission in writing from the publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • Declared Enemies and Pacific Infidels: Spanish Doctrines of “Just War” in the Mediterranean and Atlantic1 Andrew W
    Declared Enemies and Pacific Infidels: Spanish Doctrines of “Just War” in the Mediterranean and Atlantic1 Andrew W. Devereux Loyola Marymount University n december 1511, on successive Sundays of Advent, the Dominican friar Antonio de Montesinos delivered a series of rousing sermons from the pulpit of the main church of Santo Domingo in which he took the Castilian colonists of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola to Itask for their treatment of the Indians.2 The protests of Montesinos and his fellow Dominicans prompted King Ferdinand of Aragon (r. 1479–1516) to convene a junta in the Castilian city of Burgos in 1512 to examine the legality of the Spanish conquest of the Americas and the attendant treatment of the region’s inhabitants. One result of the meeting at Burgos was that the jurist and law professor Juan López de Palacios Rubios was commissioned to codify the Requerimiento, the document Castilian conquistadors were to read to indigenous peoples upon first contact. In no uncertain terms, the Requerimiento demanded of its listeners “that you acknowledge the Church as the Ruler and Superior of the whole world and the high priest called Pope, and in his name 1 The two descriptors both come courtesy of Bartolomé de Las Casas. In hisTratado comprobatorio del imperio soberano, he describes Turks and Moors as the declared enemies of Christendom (hostes públicos y enemigos). See Bartolomé de Las Casas, Tratados de Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, preface by Lewis Hanke and Manuel Giménez Fernández, 2 vols. (Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1965), 1035. By contrast, in his Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias, he describes the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas as “pacific infidels”infieles ( pacíficos).
    [Show full text]
  • On a Human Scale. Drawing and Proportion of the Vitruvian Figure Veronica Riavis
    7 / 2020 On a Human Scale. Drawing and Proportion of the Vitruvian Figure Veronica Riavis Abstract Among the images that describe the proportions of the human body, Leonardo da Vinci’s one is certainly the most effective, despite the fact that the iconic drawing does not faithfully follow the measurements indicated by Vitruvius. This research concerned the geometric analysis of the interpretations of the Vitruvian man proposed in the Renaissance editions of De Architectura, carried out after the aniconic editio princeps by Sulpicio da Veroli. Giovanni Battista da Sangallo drew the Vitruvian figure directly on his Sulpician copy, very similar to the images by Albrecht Dürer in The Symmetry of the Human Bodies [Dürer 1591]. Fra Giocondo proposes in 1511 two engravings of homo ad quadratum and ad circulum in the first Latin illustrated edition of De Architectura, while the man by Cesare Cesariano, author of the first version in vernacular of 1521, has a deformed body extension to adapt a geometric grid. Francesco di Giorgio Martini and Giacomo Andrea da Ferrara also propose significant versions believed to be the origin of Leonardo’s figuration due to the friendship that bound them. The man inscribed in the circle and square in the partial translation of Francesco di Giorgio’s De Architectura anticipates the da Vinci’s solution although it does not have explicit metric references, while the drawing by Giacomo Andrea da Ferrara reproduces a figure similar to Leonardo’s one. The comparison between the measures expressed by Vitruvius to proportion the man and the various graphic descriptions allows us to understand the complex story of the exegesis of the Roman treatise.
    [Show full text]
  • Passing As Morisco
    Figueroa 1 Passing as Morisco: Concealment and Slander in Antonio Mira de Amescua’s El mártir de Madrid MELISSA FIGUEROA ABSTRACT This essay analyzes the notion of ‘passing’ in Antonio Mira de Amescua’s play El mártir de Madrid (1610) and how it unveils the effects of concealment and slander in a hegemonic Christian society dealing with religious, ethnic, and gender anxiety in the aftermath of the expulsion of Moriscos from Spain (1609). Drawing upon contemporary studies on the concept of ‘passing,’ the essay reflects on what happens when pretending to belong to a religious affiliation, an ethnic group, or the opposite sex yields negative consequences for the character who is trying to pass. Besides examining different instances of ‘passing’ related to ethnicity, religion, and gender, the essay pays attention to the historical events that inspired Mira de Amescua’s play; i.e. the martyrdom of the Spanish Pedro Navarro in North Africa (1580) after having passed as Muslim and returned to Christianity. In addition, the essay identifies several contemporary sources and puts them into dialogue with the play. In 1580, a native of Madrid named Pedro Navarro was martyred in Morocco. Although little is known about how he was taken captive or how long he lived in North Africa, he became a symbol of devotion and religious zeal. A secret practitioner of Catholicism, Navarro was captured and sentenced to death by Islamic authorities as he attempted to return to Spain. Even after his tongue was cut off, he continued preaching the Catholic faith. His loyalty to the Church, however, is striking because Pedro Navarro also embraced Islam and passed as Muslim during his captivity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Invented World of Mariano Taccola
    Leonardo_36-2_099-178 3/14/03 12:20 PM Page 135 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE The Invented World ABSTRACT The Sienese artist-engineer of Mariano Taccola: Mariano Taccola left behind five books of annotated drawings, presently in the collections of Revisiting a Once-Famous the state libraries of Florence and Munich. Taccola was well known in Siena, and his draw- Artist-Engineer of 15th-Century Italy ings were studied and copied by artists of the period, probably serving as models for Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks. However, his work has received little Lawrence Fane attention from scholars and students in recent times. The author, a sculptor, has long been interested in Taccola’s drawings for his studio projects. Although Taccola lacked the fine drawing hand displayed by many of his contemporaries, his he name Mariano Taccola (1382–ca. 1453) as an engineer. His drawings, which inventive work may appeal T especially to viewers today. means little to most students of the Renaissance or to the gen- he carefully organized in bound Based on examination of the eral public, and yet he was a prominent figure in Siena in the notebooks, were studied by contem- original drawings, the author 15th century, leaving behind hundreds of extraordinary draw- porary artists, copied by followers discusses the qualities that ings of machines, war implements and other inventions, set in and distributed to military leaders make Taccola’s drawings unique fascinating environments with figures and animals. Taccola, who and statesmen throughout Europe. and considers what Taccola’s called himself “the Sienese Archimedes,” was primarily known These pages were probably known to intentions may have been in making them.
    [Show full text]
  • The Scaling Ladders of Leonardo Da Vinci: Art and Engineering
    The Scaling Ladders of Leonardo da Vinci: Art and Engineering John Garton1 In an increasingly war-torn Europe, Renaissance artists of the highest rank occasionally devoted themselves to military design. Francesco di Giorgio de- vised various assault weapons, Andrea Verrocchio and Hans Burgkmair each designed armo ur, Michelangelo created ramparts, and Albrecht Dürer wrote a treatise on fortifications — to name a few. Even artists averse to violence could hardly ignore the constant threat of war and its impact on the cityscape. Leonardo’s notebooks, particularly the drawings assembled by Pompeo Leoni in the 1560s to create the Codex Atlanticus, chronicle Leonardo’s involve- ment with weaponry design while serving Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan. These drawings may never have been intended to form an organized military treatise; indeed, they range in style from quick, conceptual sketches to care- fully shaded, perspectival showpieces probably meant to impress the duke or his advisors. The little-known sheet of drawings at the center of this essay dates to around 1487–90, a period of intense absorption for Leonardo in the arts of warfare. While the drawing’s provenance has received some scholarly attention regarding possible origins in the Codex Atlanticus, its innovative technology remains poorly understood (fig. 7.1).2 The sheet, now in the Pier- pont Morgan Library, reveals much about Leonardo’s thinking as a military 1 My introduction to Leonardo studies began in 1998 in a seminar at the Metropoli- tan Museum of Art with Carmen Bambach, Associate Curator of Drawings and Prints. I choose to revisit Leonardo here, in honour of Colin Eisler, with the hopes that further scrutiny of the works of that polymath from Vinci might reflect warmly on Colin’s eclectic interests and ceaseless work ethic.
    [Show full text]
  • The ORDER of Malta and the DEFENCE of TRIPOLI 1530 -1551 •
    tHE ORDER OF MALtA AND THE DEFENCE OF TRIPOLI 1530 -1551 • by Andrew P. Vella To appreciate the full meaning of the responsibility of the Order of Malta to defend Tripoli, one must think of the Mediterranean Sea and Mediterranean countries as divided between two major forces or powers, spiritual as well as physical, viz. Islam and Christendom. The dividing line is usually drawn from Northern Italy to Sicily, Malta and Tripoli: the Eastern part belonging to the Turkish Sultan who claimed dominion over Asia Minor and the Arabian peninsula, Egypt and all Northern Africa; and the rest of the Western part claimed by the Spanish Emperor. The two halves of the Mediterranean, in the words of Braudel, were indeed two political zones under different banners . .- It was Ferdinand of Aragon who had seized Mersa-el-Kebir or Mazarquivir in 1505, Penon de Velez in 1509 and Bugia in 1510. Algiers surrendered in the same year, and on June 5th 1510, the King of Tlemcen agreed at Oran to a five-year peace and the payment of a yearly tribute to the King of Aragon. The latter'S commander in the field, Pedro Navarro (1), then remained free to conquer Tripoli. His fleet stopped in Malta to collect some guides who had a good :knowledge of that country; he also embarked the Maltese Giuliano Abela to act as their pilot (2). • The text printed here is a concise and revised version of my lecture as published in Libya in History: Historical Conference 1968 (Beirtd-Lebanon 1969), pp.349-82. 1.
    [Show full text]