Da Vinci's Ghost, page 20
127 “completely worldly and depraved”: Abelard, Historia calamitatum, in Radice, The Letters, no. 1, 19.
127 “I see myself dwelling”: Panofsky, Abbot Suger, 65. Translation slightly modified.
127 “The foundation of the temple”: Bede, De templo 4.1, in Meyer, Medieval Allegory, 1.
127 “a figure and image”: Maximus the Confessor, Mystagogia 2, in Hiscock, The Symbol, 25–26.
128 “the elegant architect”: Alan of Lille, Liber de planctu naturae, in Kruft, A History, 36. Translation mine.
129 “It shall come to pass”: Isaiah 2:2.
130 “We come at last”: Vasari, On Technique, 83–84.
132 “In the articulation”: Durandus, Rationale divinorum officiorum 1.14, in Rykwert, The Dancing Column, 39. Translation slightly modified.
132 in remarkably similar terms: See, for example, the description (c. 1436) of the cathedral of Florence cited in Grafton, Leon Battista Alberti, 281: “I have decided that the wonderful edifice of this sacred basilica more or less takes the shape of a human body.”
133 “seeking out architects”: Hiscock, The Wise Master Builder, 164.
133 “Villard de Honnecourt greets you”: Barnes, The Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt, 35.
135 “imagined”: Ibid., 95.
136 “ought to rise”: Ackerman, “Ars sine scientia nihil est,” 91.
138 correspond to those of the Pantheon: Schofield, “Amadeo, Bramante, and Leonardo,” postscript, 95.
138 “The Lord God is seated”: Ackerman, “Ars sine scientia nihil est,” 100.
138 “in a fashion”: Ibid., 100.
139 “You have appointed”: Welch, Art and Authority in Renaissance Milan, 108.
139 “by a prudent geometrician”: Ibid.
139 “May God help me”: Ibid.
140 “Because of the departure”: Schofield, “Amadeo, Bramante, and Leonardo,” 68, n. 4. Unpublished English translation supplied to me by Richard Schofield.
140 “When fortune comes”: Bramly, Leonardo, 213. See also Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 1177, 294.
141 “My lords, deputies, fathers”: Irma A. Richter, The Notebooks, 300–02. Slightly modified, based on the partial translation in Nicholl, Leonardo, 223.
144 a stylized image of himself and Leonardo: Nicholl, Leonardo, 310–12.
146 “What he handed down”: Alberti, On the Art of Building, 6.1, 154.
147 “He made careful drawings”: Vasari, Vasari’s Lives, 72–73.
147 “My gods!”: Alberti, On the Art of Building, 6.1, 154. Translation slightly modified.
148 “prostrate and stripped”: Poggio Bracciolini, De varietate fortunae 1, in Elmer, Webb, and Wood, The Renaissance in Europe, 7.
149 the Florentine Vitruvius: Gadol, Leon Battista Alberti, 99, n. 10.
149 “Let it be said”: Alberti, On the Art of Building, prologue, 5.
149 Leonardo would even record: Reti, “The Two Unpublished Manuscripts,” no. 19, 81.
150 “The harmony is such”: Alberti, On the Art of Building, 1.9, 23–24.
151 “works on architecture”: Vespasiano, Lives, in Whitcomb, Literary Source Book, 77.
151 Francesco was a figure: The biographical highlights listed in this paragraph derive primarily from Betts, The Architectural Theories, 3–7; and Scaglia, Francesco di Giorgio, 13–17.
152 “Pictures are very apt”: Pliny, Natural History 25.4–5, cited in Ivins, Prints and Visual Communications, 14.
153 “as many interpreters as readers”: Martini, Treatise, 2.489, in Laurenza, “The Vitruvian Man,” 44.
153 He did so most memorably in his Treatise: Betts, “On the Chronology,” 13–14.
154 “a well-composed”: Ibid., 5.
155 “I will show you”: Filarete, Treatise (trans. Spencer), 6r, 12.
156 “seems to outline”: Dulcino, Nuptiae illustrissimi ducis mediolani, in Schofield, “Amadeo, Bramante, and Leonardo,” 82.
7: BODY AND SOUL
159 “A good painter”: Irma A. Richter, The Notebooks, 176.
161 “took an especial delight”: Vasari, Lives, in Nicholl, Leonardo, 43. See also Vasari, Vasari’s Lives, 188.
161 “He would not kill a flea”: Nicholl, Leonardo, 43.
161 “do not feed on anything”: Ibid., 478.
162 “The frog retains life”: O’Malley and Saunders, Leonardo, 352.
162 “The frog immediately dies”: Ibid., 350.
162 “Having placed”: Mundinus, Anathomia, in Singer, The Fasciculo di Medicina, 59.
162 one of the earliest surviving references: Park, “The Criminal and the Saintly Body,” 7.
163 “Sketch in the bones”: Alberti, On Painting and On Sculpture, 75.
163 “It is necessary”: Clayton, Leonardo, 12.
164 “The professor shall read”: Ibid.
164 a medical miscellany that Leonardo himself owned: Reti, “The Two Unpublished Manuscripts,” no. 2, 81.
164 “microcosm”: Mundinus, Anathomia, in Singer, The Fasciculo di Medicina, 60.
166 “Having observed the guts”: Ibid., 68.
167 “You see to the right”: Ibid.
167 “In man, these lobes”: Ibid., 71.
168 If you opened your eyes outside: Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 1, no. 68, 42.
168 “Down to my own time”: Ibid., no. 21, 19.
171 he owned at least 45 books: For the contents of the list, see Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, 442–45. For the dating, see Pedretti, The Literary Works 2, 353–54.
171 he owned at least 116: For the contents and dating of the list, see Reti, “The Two Unpublished Manuscripts,” 81–89; and Pedretti, The Literary Works 2, 355–68.
171 “Try to get Vitolone”: Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 1448, 435.
172 One high-ranking official: Vallentin, Leonardo, 149.
173 Here, under one roof: For the contents of the Visconti library, see Pellegrin, La Bibliothèque des Visconti.
177 “By the ancients”: Kemp, Leonardo, 98–99. See also Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 929, 179.
177 “tortuously ponderous”: Letze and Buchsteiner, Leonardo, 18.
178 “This work should begin”: Clayton, Leonardo, 25. See also Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 797, 108–09.
179 other topics that he would have to cover: Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 805, 114.
179 “Represent whence catarrh”: O’Malley and Saunders, Leonardo, 31.
180 “You will have set before you”: Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 798, 111. Translation modified slightly, based on O’Malley and Saunders, Leonardo, 32.
182 some twenty different editions: Schaff, St. Augustine’s City of God, xiii.
182 Leonardo himself owned a copy: Reti, “The Two Unpublished Manuscripts,” no. 11, 81.
182 “This would be more apparent”: Augustine, City of God 22.24, 1074.
183 “Driven by an ardent desire”: Bramly, Leonardo, 86. See also Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 1339, 395.
185 “The cavity of the orbit”: O’Malley and Saunders, Leonardo, 44.
186 “The parts pertaining to sensation”: Mundinus, Anathomia, in Singer, The Fasciculo di Medicina, 91.
186 “The soul seems to reside”: Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 838, 127.
188 “Now, cut carefully”: Mundinus, Anathomia, in Singer, The Fasciculo di Medicina, 91.
189 “Where the line am intersects”: O’Malley and Saunders, Leonardo, 52.
8: PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST
190 “Painting is philosophy”: Leonardo, Treatise on Painting 1, no. 8, 5.
190 “the universal measure of man”: Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 1, editor’s remarks, 167.
192 “From the top of the ear”: Ibid., no. 317, 173.
192 “The distance from the top”: Ibid., no. 310, 170.
192 “The smallest thickness”: Ibid., no. 348, 185.
192 “The foot”: Ibid., no. 325, 176.
192 “yl is the fleshy part”: Ibid., no. 349, 186.
193 On May 10, 1490: Pedretti, Leonardo: Architect, 35.
193 some 136 structures: Betts, “On the Chronology,” 14.
194 translating Vitruvius into Italian: Ibid., 13.
195 “The art of architecture”: Ibid., 4.
195 “Item for 21 June”: Beltrami, Documenti, no. 50, 32. Unpublished translation supplied to me by Richard Schofield, professor of architectural history, Istituto Universitario di Architettura, Venice.
196 “reconciling the sign”: Betts, “On the Chronology,” 4, 5.
196 he was also borrowing directly: Ibid., 5.
197 “all the arts”: Ibid.
199 “Vitruvius says that the navel”: Filarete, Treatise (trans. Spencer), 3v–4r, 8.
199 “can be decreased”: Millon, “The Architectural Theory,” 261.
200 to help write a final report: Schofield, “Amadeo, Bramante, and Leonardo,” 69.
200 time in Pavia for research: Nicholl, Leonardo, 269; and Bramly, Leonardo, 216.
200 he had dinner in the city: Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 1458, 438.
201 “many very famous and wise men”: Pacioli, preface to De divina proportione, in Taylor, No Royal Road, 256.
201 “There was also Giacomo Andrea”: Ibid., 257.
201 they quartered his body and displayed its pieces: Müntz, Leonardo, 101.
202 “Messer Vincenzo Aliprando”: Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 1501, 452.
202 “imperfect work”: Sgarbi, “A Newly Discovered Corpus,” 32.
202–03 “The manuscript is the earliest”: Ibid., 31.
206 He used a variety of implements: For interesting detail on the construction of the drawing, see Landrus, “Leonardo’s Canons,” 55–61.
207 “Vitruvius, the architect”: Kemp, Leonardo on Painting, 309. See also Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 1, no. 343, 182–83.
208 Only ten of the twenty-two measurements: See, for example, Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 1, no. 340, 181, which includes several of the non-Vitruvian measurements that appear in the text that accompanies Leonardo’s drawing of Vitruvian Man.
209 “You who think”: Pedretti, The Literary Works 2, 91.
210 “an act of radical philology”: Laurenza, “The Vitruvian Man,” 44.
212 “I have all measure in me”: Rykwert, The Dancing Column, 86. Translation slightly modified.
212 “Man, called a little world”: Kruft, A History, 57. Translation slightly modified.
212 “the center of nature”: Ficino, Platonic Theology 3.2, in Gadol, Leon Battista Alberti, 232.
212 “From the human body derive”: Wittkower, Architectural Principles, 15.
212 “By the ancients”: Kemp, Leonardo, 98–99. See also Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 929, 179.
212 “Man is a model of the world”: Jean Paul Richter, The Notebooks 2, no. 1162, 291. Translation slightly modified.
213 most notably Albrecht Dürer: See, for example, the studies of the leg that appear in Dürer’s Dresden Sketchbook (1517). In 1507, Dürer himself also produced some studies of Vitruvian Man (London, British Library, MA Sloane 5230, fol. 2), but they are rendered very differently from Leonardo’s.
213 “I beseech you”: Clark, The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, no. 19007, 5.
213 “He then tabulated”: Giovio, “The Life of Leonardo da Vinci,” in Goldscheider, Leonardo, 29.
213 he envisaged it as the frontispiece: Mariani, “Leonardo,” in Radke, Leonardo, 91.
214 “a key to define”: Dragstra, “The Vitruvian Proportions,” 83–84.
214 Luca Pacioli mentioned: Pacioli, De divina proportione, preface, in Taylor, No Royal Road, 257.
216 “Measure on yourself”: Leonardo, Treatise on Painting, no. 438, 162.
216 “There is one nowadays”: Kemp, “Leonardo da Vinci,” 199, in Farago, An Overview, 433.
EPILOGUE: AFTERLIFE
219 a cursory description: The reference was made by the painter Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo, who, in surveying the contents of Leonardo’s notebooks, described the picture simply as “a demonstration in a figure of all the proportions of the members of the human body.” See Lomazzo, Idea del tempio 1, 47.
219 The first copy: According to Pedretti, The Literary Works 1, 244–45, the image was first printed in Disegni di Leonardo da Vinci incisi e pubblicati (1784) by Carlo Giuseppe Gerli.
224 “I cannot resist”: Cellini, Discorso dell’ architettura, in Nicholl, Leonardo, 487.
225 “With what words”: Pedretti, The Literary Works 1, 84.
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