Notebooks (34 page)

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Authors: Leonardo da Vinci,Irma Anne Richter,Thereza Wells

Tags: #History, #Fiction, #General, #European, #Art, #Renaissance, #Leonardo;, #Leonardo, #da Vinci;, #1452-1519, #Individual artists, #Art Monographs, #Drawing By Individual Artists, #Notebooks; sketchbooks; etc, #Individual Artist, #History - Renaissance, #Renaissance art, #Individual Painters - Renaissance, #Drawing & drawings, #Drawing, #Techniques - Drawing, #Individual Artists - General, #Individual artists; art monographs, #Art & Art Instruction, #Techniques

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The waves of the sea which break on the slope of the mountains that confine it will foam from the velocity with which they fall against these hills and in turning back meet the onset of the next wave and after loud roaring return in a great flood to the sea whence they came.
Let a great number of inhabitants, men and animals of all kinds, be seen driven by the rising deluge towards the peaks of the mountains which border on these waters.
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Of a Deluge and the Representation of it in Painting
Let the dark and gloomy air be seen buffeted by the rush of opposing winds and dense from the continued rain mingled with hail and bearing hither and thither an infinite number of branches torn from the trees mixed together with numberless leaves. All around let there be seen ancient trees uprooted and stripped by the fury of the winds; let there be seen fragments of mountains which have already been scoured bare by their torrents fall into these very torrents and choke up their valleys; until the swollen rivers overflow and submerge the wide lands with their inhabitants. Again you might see on many of the mountain-tops many different kinds of animals huddled together, terrified and subdued to tameness in company with men and women who had fled there with their children. And the waters which cover the fields with their waves are in great part strewn with tables, bedsteads, boats, and various other contrivances improvised through necessity and fear of death, on which are women and men with their children uttering lamentations and cries terrified by the fury of the winds which are causing the waters to roll over and over in mighty hurricane, bearing with them the bodies of the drowned; nor was there any object lighter than the water but was covered with different animals who had made a truce and stood together in terror, among them being wolves, foxes, snakes, and creatures of every kind—fugitives from death. And all the waves that beat against their sides were striking them with blows from various bodies of the drowned, blows which killed those in whom life remained.
You might see groups of men with weapons in their hands defending the small spots that remained to them from the lions, wolves, and beasts of prey which sought safety there. Ah! what dreadful screams were heard in the dark air rent by the fury of the thunder and the lightning it flashed forth which darted through the clouds bearing ruin and striking down all that withstood its course! Ah, you might see many stopping their ears with their hands in order to shut out the tremendous sounds made in the darkened air by the fury of the winds mingling with the rain, the thunders of heaven, and the fury of the thunderbolts! Others, not content to shut their eyes, laid their hands over them, one above the other to cover them more securely in order not to see the pitiless slaughter of the human race by the wrath of God. . . . Ah, how many laments! How many in their terror flung themselves from the rocks! Huge branches of great oaks loaded with men were seen borne through the air by the impetuous fury of the winds. How many boats were capsized, some whole, others broken in pieces with people on them labouring to escape with gestures and actions of grief foretelling a fearful death! Others with gestures of despair were taking their own lives, hopeless of being able to endure such anguish; some of these were flinging themselves from lofty rocks, others were strangling themselves with their own hands; others seized their own children and with violence slew them at one blow; some with their own weapons wounded and killed themselves; others falling upon their knees recommended themselves to God. Ah! how many mothers were weeping over their drowned sons, supported upon their knees, with arms open and raised towards heaven, and with cries and shrieks declaiming against the wrath of the gods! Others with hands clasped and fingers clenched gnawed them and devoured them with bites that ran blood, crouching with their breasts on their knees in their intense and unbearable anguish.
Herds of animals were to be seen, such as horses, oxen, goats, and sheep, already hemmed in by the waters and left isolated on the high peaks of the mountains huddled together, and those in the middle climbing to the top and treading on the others, and fighting fiercely with each other; and many dying from lack of food.
And the birds had already begun to settle on men and on other animals no longer finding any land left unsubmerged that was not occupied by living creatures; already had hunger, the minister of death, taken the lives of the greater number of the animals when the dead bodies now inflated began to rise from the bottom of the deep waters to the surface among the buffeting waves; and there lay beating one against the other; and, like balls puffed up with wind, rebound from the spot where they strike, these lay upon the bodies of the dead.
And above these judgement scenes the air was seen covered with dark clouds, riven by the jagged course of the raging bolts of heaven, lighting up now here, now there, the depth of the gloom.
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Amid the whirling courses of the winds were seen a great quantity of companies of birds coming from distant lands, and these appeared to be almost indistinguishable, for in their circling movements at one time all the birds of one company were seen edgewise, that is showing their narrowest side, and at another time showing their greatest breadth, that is in full face; and at their first appearance they were shaped like an indistinguishable cloud, and then the second and third groups became more defined as they approached nearer to the eye of the spectator.
And the nearest of these companies descended with a slanting movement, and settled upon the dead bodies, which were borne along by the waves of the great deluge, and fed upon them; and this they did until the buoyancy of the inflated dead bodies came to fail, so that with slow descent they sank down to the bottom of the waters.
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The divisions
Darkness, wind, tempest at sea, deluge of water, forests on fire, rain, bolts from heaven, earthquakes, and destruction of mountains, levelling of cities.
Whirlwinds which carry water and branches of trees, and men through the air. Branches torn away by the winds crashing together at the meeting of the winds, with people upon them.
Broken trees laden with people.
Ships broken to pieces dashed upon the rocks.
Flocks of sheep.
Hailstones, thunderbolts, whirlwinds.
People on trees which cannot support them, trees and rocks, towers and hills crowded with people, boats, tables, troughs and other contrivances for floating,—hills covered with men, women and animals, with lightning from the clouds which illuminates the scene.
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II. COMPARISON OF THE ARTS
1. PAINTING, MUSIC, AND POETRY
Leonardo’s ability to practise several arts led him to compare what they had in common and how they differed, and this deepened his understanding of the distinctive qualities in the realm of painting. He challenged the prevailing scholastic classification of human knowledge according to which the seven Liberal Arts represented the highest form of human effort. Poetry and Music were included among these; but Painting was relegated to the ‘Mechanical Arts’ or crafts which included manual work of various kinds and was considered inferior.
The poet’s art resembles the musician’s in that the syllables of his words are the equivalent of the musician’s notes
.
Both verse and voice proceed through time in rhythmical formation
.
The painter, on the other hand, does not express himself in rhythmical divisions of time but he may infuse rhythm into the contours of his figures
.
Plutarch had compared contours to rhythmic movement: ‘Dancing resembles the lines by which figures are defined
—
Dancing is like silent poetry
,
while poetry is the dance of speech
.’
However
,
rhythm was a secondary consideration
.
It was the harmonic combination
,
the variation of pitch
,
that seemed all
-
important to Leonardo
.
The painter’s art resembles the musician’s in that proportions are the equivalent of the variations of pitch in musical sounds
.
Beautiful proportions in painting are like a musical chord with different notes sounded all at one time
.
These simultaneous harmonies give intense pleasure
.
Here the poet
’
s art falls short
,
since it cannot sound more than one note at a time
.
It follows from these considerations that harmony and rhythm pass beyond the limits of one art
.
They respond to a feeling for beauty in our very being and reveal themselves in different guises according to the conditions of each art
. ‘
Do you not know that our soul is composed of harmony
.’
The painter is lord of all types of people and of all things. If the painter wishes to see beauties that charm him it lies in his power to create them, and if he wishes to see monstrosities that are frightful, buffoonish or ridiculous, or pitiable he can be lord and god thereof; if he wants to produce inhabited regions or deserts or dark and shady retreats from the heat, or warm places in cold weather, he can do so. If he wants valleys, if he wants from high mountain tops to unfold a great plain extending down to the sea’s horizon, he is lord to do so; and likewise if from low plains he wishes to see high mountains. . . . In fact whatever exists in the universe, in essence, in appearance, in the imagination, the painter has first in his mind and then in his hand; and these are of such excellence that they can present a proportioned and harmonious view of the whole, that can be seen simultaneously, at one glance, just as things in nature.
194
 
He who despises painting loves neither philosophy nor nature. If you despise painting, which is the sole imitator of all the visible works of nature, you certainly will be despising a subtle invention which brings philosophy and subtle speculation to bear on the nature of all forms—sea and land, plants and animals, grasses and flowers, which are enveloped in shade and light. Truly painting is a science, the true-born child of nature, for painting is born of nature, but to be more correct we should call it the grandchild of nature; since all visible things were brought forth by nature and these her children have given birth to painting. Therefore we may justly speak of it as the grandchild of nature and as related to God.*
195
 
Painting cannot be taught to those not endowed by nature, like mathematics where the pupil takes in as much as the master gives. It cannot be copied like letters where the copy has the same value as the original. It cannot be moulded as in sculpture where the cast is equal in merit to the original; it cannot be reproduced indefinitely as is done in the printing of books.
It remains peerless in its nobility; alone it does honour to its author, remaining unique and precious; it never engenders offspring equal to it; and this singleness makes it excel over sciences which are published everywhere. Do we not see great kings of the East go about veiled and covered because they think they might diminish in fame by showing themselves in public and divulging their presence. Do we not see that pictures representing Deity are kept constantly concealed under costly draperies and that before they are uncovered great ecclesiastical rites are performed with singing to the strains of instruments; and at the moment of the unveiling the great multitudes of peoples who have flocked there throw themselves to the ground worshipping and praying to Him whose image is represented for the recovery of their health and for their eternal salvation, as if the Deity were present in person. The like does not happen with any other work of man; and if you assert that it is not due to the merit of the painter but to the subject represented we answer that, if that were so, men might remain peacefully in their beds provided their imagination were satisfied, instead of going to wearisome and perilous places as we see them doing constantly on pilgrimages. And what necessity impels these men to go on pilgrimages? You surely will agree that the image of the Deity is the cause and that no amount of writing could produce the equal of such an image either in form or in power. It would seem, therefore, that the Deity loves such a painting and loves those who adore and revere it and prefers to be worshipped in this rather than in another form of imitation; and bestows grace and deliverance through it according to the belief of those who assemble in such a place.
196
 
Music may be called the sister of painting, for she is dependent upon hearing, the sense which comes second,* and her harmony is composed of the union of its proportional parts sounded simultaneously, rising and falling in one or more harmonic rhythms. These rhythms may be said to surround the proportionality of the members composing the harmony just as the contour bounds the members from which human beauty is born.
But painting excels and ranks higher than music, because it does not fade away as soon as it is born, as is the fate of unhappy music. On the contrary, it endures and has all the appearance of being alive, though in fact it is confined to one surface. Oh wonderful science which can preserve the transient beauty of mortals and endow it with a permanence greater than the works of nature; for these are subject to the continual changes of time which leads them towards inevitable old age! And such a science is in the same relation to divine nature as its works are to the works of nature, and for this it is to be adored.
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