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Milestone
In Sculpture
Leonardo
worked as a sculptor early in his life. In the introduction
to his Treatise on Painting, he gives more importance
to painting then sculpting. His love for sculpture never
decreased. Verrocchio’s followers used to create
small groups, which were labeled as Leonardo’s
style because a lovely drawing on the same theme suggests
such a connection.
A
project involving the making of a huge bronze equestrian
statue for Francesco Storza, on which he worked until
1494 never took off. Text and drawings, both show Leonardo’s
knowledge in techniques of bronze casting. The project
was impractical, as he wanted to cast the horse in a
single piece, which was impossible looking at the gigantic
proportions. Another project, which never reached completion,
was the monument for Marshal Trivulzio on which he worked
for five years from 1506-11. Leonardo’s style was
copied everywhere. Rustici, according to Vasari was
Leonardo’s zealous student and followed him closely.
Milestones
In Architecture
Leonardo described himself as an experienced architect,
military engineer and a hydraulic engineer in a letter
to Ludovico Storza. He played the role of an advisor
and consultant as far as architecture was concerned.
The unique characteristic of Leonardo’s architectural
studies was to include every type of building problem
of his time. Only once, in the competition for the Cupola
of the Milan Cathedral (1487-90) did he consider participation;
but he gave up this idea when the model he had submitted
was returned to him.
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Some other clues that support Leonardo's claim to be a practicing architect, are the sketches for some secular buildings : the palace of a Milanese nobleman (around 1490), the Villa of the French governor in Milan (1507-08), and the Medici residence in Florence (1515). Finally there was his big project for the palace and garden of Romorantin in France (1517-19). Architectural drawings spanning through his life suggest precisely the developmentally crucial period in which architecture matured and became technically sound.
Milestones In Anatomical Studies And Drawing
The areas of study, which were dealt with by Leonardo always got interrelated with each other. One led to the development of the other. Thus, Leonardo’s study of anatomy helped him to create perfect figures with perfect expressions. He became fascinated by the figura instrumental dell’omo (‘man’s instrumental figure’) and he visualized it as a wonderful creation of nature. In his earlier part of studies, he paid attention to bones, muscles and the curves of the body. Later on, he got interested in the internal organs and the motor activity of the human body. He did dissection and practical work on the dissection table in the hospital of Sta Maria Nuova in Florence and Milan. He himself admitted of dissecting 30 corpses in his lifetime. The great picture chart of the human body was what Leonardo depicted as a Cosmografia del minor mondo (‘cosmography of the microcosm’). |
Milestones
In Mechanics And Cosmology
As an architect and an engineer, the study of mechanics
came naturally to Leonardo. Throughout his life, he
was an innovative builder and was familiar with the
principles of mechanics. He always wanted to contribute
to the existing channel of knowledge.
His
book on the elementary theory of mechanics, published
at the end of 1490s was discovered in the Madrid Codex
8937. The book was a lucid description of basic mechanical
principles and functions employed in building machinery.
The problem of friction and resistance attracted his
special attention. Mechanical parts such as – screws,
threads, gears, hydraulic jacks, swiveling devices,
transmission gears are described at length. The pictorial
description of the properties is more vivid than the
written words.
He
found mechanics and its principles in nature also. In
his studies on the flight of birds, in which his youthful
idea of the feasibility of a flying apparatus took shape,
led to exhaustive research into the element of air.
In his studies of water, the Venturale della natura
(‘conveyer of nature’) he was ‘concerned
with the laws of motion of water and water currents’.
He went further and even studied whirlpools !
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