Part 5

"All that is good in this book may be written on one sheet of paper, in a large character, and those who believe that I approve all that is in it, do not know me; I who profess never to give sanction to things of my profession which I know to be ill done and ill said."

Whoever recollects the difference in the course of study pursued and recommended by Leonardo (that of Nature), from that observed by Poussin (that of the antique), and remembers also the different fortunes of Le Brun and Poussin, that the one was at the head of his profession, enjoying all its honours and emoluments, while the other, though conscious of his own great powers, was toiling for a daily subsistence in comparative obscurity, may easily conceive why the latter could not approve a work which so strongly inculcates the adopting Nature as the guide throughout; and which was at the same time patronized by one whom he could not but consider as his more fortunate rival. It may however be truly affirmed, that even the talents of Poussin, great as they certainly were, and his knowledge and correctness in drawing, would have been abundantly improved by an attention to the rules laid down in this Treatise, and that the study of Nature would have freed his pictures from that resemblance to statues which his figures frequently have, and bestowed on them the soft and fleshy appearance for which Leonardo was so remarkable; while a minute investigation of Leonardo's system of colouring would have produced perhaps in him as fortunate a change as we have seen it did in the case of Raphael.

Though Bosse tells us[i107], that he had seen in the hands of Mons. Felibien, a manuscript copy of this Tract on Painting, which he said he had taken from the same original mentioned before, for the purpose of translating it into French; and that on Bosse's pointing out to him some of these errors, and informing him that Mons. de Chambray was far advanced in his translation, he abandoned his design, and assigned to the Sieur de Chambray the privilege he had obtained for it; we have no intention here to enumerate or answer Bosse's objections, merely because such an undertaking would greatly exceed the limits which can here be allowed us. Most of them will be found captious and splenetic, and, together with the majority of the rest, might be fully refuted by a deduction of facts; it is however sufficient on the present occasion to say, that wherever opportunity has been afforded of tracing the means by which Leonardo procured his materials for any great composition, he is found to have exactly pursued the path which he recommends to others[i108]; and for the success of his precepts, and what may be effected by them, we need only appeal to his own example.

To this enumeration of the productions of Leonardo's pen, and in contradiction to the fact already asserted, that no part of his collections was ever arranged or prepared for publication by himself, it is probable we may be told we should add tracts on Motion; on the Equilibrium of bodies; on the nature, equilibrium, and motion of Water; on Anatomy; on the Anatomy of an horse; on Perspective; and on Light and Shadow: which are either mentioned by himself in the Treatise on Painting, or ascribed to him by others. But as to these, there is great reason for supposing, that, though they might be intended, they were never actually drawn up into form. Certain it is, that no such have been ever given to the world, as those before noticed are the only treatises of this author that have yet appeared in print; and even they have already been shewn to be no more than extracts from the immense mass of his collections of such passages as related to the subjects on which they profess to give intelligence. If any tracts therefore in his name, on any of the above topics, are any where existing in manuscript, and in obscurity, it is probable they are only similar selections. And indeed it will be found on inspection, that his collections consist of a multitude of entries made at different times, without method, order, or arrangement of any kind, so as to form an immense chaos of intelligence, which he, like many other voluminous collectors, intended at some future time to digest and arrange, but unfortunately postponed this task so long, that he did not live to carry that intention into effect. Under these circumstances, should it happen, as perhaps it may, that any volume of the whole is confined exclusively to any one branch of science, such as hydrostatics for instance, it was not the consequence of a designed plan, but only arose from this accident, that he had then made that branch the object of his pursuit, and for a time laid aside the rest. In proof of this assertion it may be observed, that the very treatise of light and shadow above mentioned, is described as in the Ambrosian library at Milan, and as a folio volume covered with red velvet, presented by Signior Mazzenta to Cardinal Borromeo[i109]; from all which circumstances it is evidently proved to be one of the volumes now existing in France[i110], which were inspected and described by Venturi in the tract so often cited in the course of this life.

Although the principal of Leonardo's productions have been already mentioned, it has been thought proper, for the satisfaction of the curious, here to subjoin a catalogue of such of them as have come to our knowledge; distinguishing in it such as were only drawings, from such as were finished pictures, and noticing also which of them have been engraven, and by whom.

CATALOGUE

OF THE

WORKS

OF

_LEONARDO DA VINCI_.

ARCHITECTURE.

Many _designs for plans and buildings_, made by him in his youth[i111].

_A model_ made by him for raising the roof of the church of St. John, at Florence[i112].

_The house of the family of Melzi at Vaprio_, supposed by Della Valle to be designed by Leonardo[i113].

MODELS /and/ SCULPTURE.

Some _heads of laughing women_, modelled by him in clay, in his youth[i114].

Some _boys' heads_ also, which appeared to have come from the hand of a master[i115].

_Three figures in bronze_, over the gate on the north side of the church of St. John, at Florence, made by Gio. Francesco Rustici, but designed with the advice of Leonardo da Vinci[i116].

_A model in clay_, in alto relievo. It is a circle of about two palms in diameter, and represents St. Jerom in a grotto, old, and much worn out by prayer. It was in the possession of Sig. Ignazio Hugford, a painter at Florence, who was induced to buy it in consequence of the great praises which in his youth he had heard bestowed on it by the celebrated Anton. Dominico Gabbiani, his master, who knew it to be of the hand of Leonardo. This model appears to have been much studied in the time of Pontormo and Rosso; and many copies of it, both drawings and pictures, are to be found throughout Florence, well painted in their manner[i117].

The _equestrian statue_ in memory of the Duke of Milan's father, which was not only finished and exposed to view, but broken to pieces by the French when they took possession of Milan. It has been said by some, that the model only was finished, and the statue never cast, and that it was the model only which the French destroyed[i118].

Vasari, p. 36, mentions a little _model_ by Leonardo in wax, but he does not say what was its subject.

DRAWINGS.

/Vasari/, p. 24, says, that it was Leonardo's practice to model figures from the life, and then to cover them with fine thin lawn or cambric, so as to be able to see through it, and with the point of a fine pencil to trace off the outlines in black and white; and that some such drawings he had in his collection.

_A head in chiaro oscuro_, in the possession of Vasari, and mentioned by him as divine, a drawing on paper[i119].

_A carton of Adam and Eve in Paradise_, made by him for the King of Portugal. It is done with a pen in chiaro oscuro, and heightened with white, and was intended to be worked as tapestry in silk and gold; but Vasari says it was never executed, and that in his time the carton remained at Florence, in the house of Ottaviano de Medici. Whether this carton is still existing is unknown[i120].

_Several ridiculous heads of men and women_, formerly in Vasari's collection, drawn in pen and ink[i121]. Aurelio Lovino had, says Lomazzo, a book of sketches by Leonardo, of odd and ridiculous heads. This book appears to have contained about 250 figures of countrymen and countrywomen laughing, drawn by the hand of Leonardo. Card. Silvio Valenti had a similar book, in which were caricature heads drawn with a pen, like that engraven by Count Caylus. Of these caricatures mention is made in the second volume of the Lettere Pittoriche, p. 170[i122]. The passage in the Lettere Pittoriche here referred to, is part of a letter without any name or date, addressed _Al Sig. C. di C._; but a note of the editor's explains these initials, as meaning Sig. Conte di Caylus, and supposes the author to have been the younger Mariette. The letter mentions a collection of heads from Leonardo's drawings, published by the Count; and the editor, in another note, tells us, that they are caricature heads drawn in pen and ink; that the originals were bought in Holland, from Sig. Cardin. Silvio Valenti, and that the prints of which the letter speaks, are in the famous collection of the Corsini library. The author of the Letter supposes these caricatures to have been drawn when Vinci retired to Melzi's house, that he invented them as a new sort of recreation, and intended them as a subject for the academy which he had established at Milan.

In another part of the same Letter, p. 173, 174, this collection of drawings of heads is again mentioned, and it is there said, that it might be that which belonged to the Earl of Arundel. This conjecture is founded on there being many such heads engraven formerly by Hollar. In fact, the number of the plates which he has done from drawings of this painter, are near one hundred, which compose different series. The author of the Letter adds, that, if a conjecture might be permitted, we might affirm, that this is the collection of heads of which Paul Lomazzo speaks; at least the description which he gives of a similar collection which was in the hands of Aurelio Lovino, a painter of Milan, corresponds with this as well in the number of the drawings as their subjects. It represents, like this, studies from old men, countrymen, wrinkled old women, which are all laughing. Another part of this Letter says, it is easy to believe that the collection of drawings of heads which occasioned this Letter, might be one of those books in which Leonardo noted the most singular countenances.

In p. 198 of the same Letter, Hollar's engravings are said to be about an hundred, and to have been done at Antwerp in 1645, and the following year; and in p. 199, Count Caylus's publication is said to contain 59 plates in aqua fortis, done in 1730, and that this latter is the work so often mentioned in the Letter.

_Another collection of the same kind of caricature heads_ mentioned in Mariette's Letter[i123], as existing in the cabinet of either the King of Spain or the King of Sardinia.

_Four caricature heads_, mentioned, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 190, as being in the possession of Sig. Crozat. They are described as drawn with a pen, and are said to have come originally from Vasari's collection of drawings. Of this collection it is said, in a note on the above passage, that it was afterwards carried into France, and fell into the hands of a bookseller, who took the volume to pieces, and disposed of the drawings separately, and that many of them came into the cabinets of the King, and Sig. Crozat. Others say, and it is more credible, that Vasari's collection passed into that of the Grand Dukes of Medici.

_A head of Americo Vespucci_, in charcoal, but copied by Vasari in pen and ink[i124].

_A head of an old man_, beautifully drawn in charcoal[i125].

_An head of Scarramuccia, captain of the gypsies_, in chalk; formerly belonging to Pierfrancesco Giambullari, canon of St. Lorenzo, at Florence, and left by him to Donato Valdambrini of Arezzo, canon of St. Lorenzo also[i126].

_Several designs of combatants on horseback_, made by Leonardo for Gentil Borri, a master of defence[i127], to shew the different positions necessary for a horse soldier in defending himself, and attacking his enemy.

_A carton of our Saviour, the Virgin, St. Ann, and St. John._ Vasari says of this, that for two days, people of all sorts, men and women, young and old, resorted to Leonardo's house to see this wonderful performance, as if they had been going to a solemn feast; and adds, that this carton was afterwards in France. It seems that this was intended for an altar-piece for the high altar of the church of the Annunziata, but the picture was never painted[i128]. However, when Leonardo afterwards went into France, he, at the desire of Francis the First, put the design into colours. Lomazzo has said, that this carton of St. Ann was carried into France; that in his time it was at Milan, in the possession of Aurelio Lovino, a painter; and that many drawings from it were in existence. What was the fate this carton of St. Ann underwent, may be seen in a letter of P. Resta, printed in the third volume of the Lettere Pittoriche, in which he says, that Leonardo made three of these cartons, and nevertheless did not convert it into a picture, but that it was painted by Salai, and that the picture is still in the sacristy of St. Celsus at Milan[i129].

_A drawing of an old man's head, seen in front_, in red chalk; mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 191.

_A carton_ designed by him _for painting the council-chamber at Florence_. The subject which he chose for this purpose was, the history of Niccolo Piccinino, the Captain of Duke Philip of Milan, in which he drew a group of men on horseback fighting for a standard[i130]. Mariette, in a note, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 193, mentions this carton, which he says represented two horsemen fighting for a standard; that it was only part of a large history, the subject of which was the rout of Niccolo Piccinino, General of the army of Philip Duke of Milan, and that a print was engraven of it by Edelinck, when young, but the drawing from which he worked was a bad one. In the catalogue of prints from the works of Leonardo, inserted Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 195, this print is again mentioned and described more truly, as representing four horsemen fighting for a standard. It is there supposed to have been engraven from a drawing by Fiammingo, and that this drawing might have been made from the picture which Du Fresne speaks of as being in his time in the possession of Sig. La Maire, an excellent painter of perspective.

_A design of Neptune drawn in his car by sea horses, attended by sea gods_; made by him for his friend Antonio Segni[i131].

_Several anatomical drawings_ made from the life, many of which have been since collected into a volume, by his scholar Francesco Melzi[i132].

_A book of the Anatomy of man_, mentioned by Vasari, p. 36, the drawings for which were made with the assistance of Marc Antonio della Torre, before noticed in the present life. It is probably the same with the preceding.

A beautiful and well-preserved study in red and black chalk, of the _head of a Virgin_, from which he afterwards painted a picture. This study was at one time in the celebrated Villa de Vecchietti, but afterwards, in consequence of a sale, passed into the hands of Sig. Ignazio Hugford[i133].

_Two heads of women in profile_, little differing from each other, drawn in like manner in black and red chalk, bought at the same sale by Sig. Hugford, but now among the Elector Palatine's collection of drawings[i134].

_A book of the Anatomy of a horse_, mentioned by Vasari, p. 36, as a distinct work; but probably included in Leonardo's manuscript collections. See the account before given of them.

Several designs by Leonardo were in the possession of Sig. Jabac, who seems to have been a collector of pictures, and to have bought up for the King of France several excellent pictures particularly by Leonardo da Vinci[i135].

_A drawing of a young man embracing an old woman_, whom he is caressing for the sake of her riches. This is mentioned, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 198, as engraven by Hollar, in 1646.

_A head of a young man seen in profile_, engraven in aqua fortis by Conte di Caylus, from a drawing in the King of France's collection[i136].

_A fragment of a Treatise on the Motions of the Human Body_, already mentioned in the foregoing life.

In the Lettere Pittoriche, vol. ii. p. 199, mention is made of a print representing _some intertwisted lines upon a black ground_, in the style of some of Albert Durer's engravings in wood. In the middle of this, in a small compartment, is to be read, "/Academia Leonardi Vin/." Vasari, it is there said, has noticed it as a singularity.

In p. 200 of the same work, a similar print is also noticed, which differs only in the inscription from the former. In this last it is /Academia Leonardi Vici/. Both this and the former print are said to be extremely rare, and only to have been seen in the King of France's collection. It does not however appear from any thing in the Lett. Pitt. that they were designed by Leonardo.

The Abate di Villeloin, in his Catalogue of Prints published in 1666, speaks, under the article of Leonardo da Vinci, of a print of the taking down from the Cross; but the Lett. Pitt. says it was engraven from Eneas Vico, not from Leonardo[i137].

_Two drawings of monsters_, mentioned by Lomazzo, consisting of a boy's head each, but horribly distorted by the misplacing of the features, and the introduction of other members not in Nature to be found there. These two drawings were in the hands of Francesco Borella, a sculptor[i138].

_A portrait_ by Leonardo, _of Artus, Maestro di Camera to Francis I._ drawn in black lead pencil[i139].

_The head of a Cæsar crowned with oak_, among a valuable collection of drawings in a thick volume in folio, in the possession of Sig. Pagave[i140].

_The proportions of the human body._ The original of this is preserved in the possession of Sig. Pagave. At the head and foot of this drawing is to be read the description which begins thus: _Tanto apre l'Uomo nelle braccia quanto è la sua altezza, &c._ and above all, at the head of the work is the famous Last Supper, which he proposes to his scholars as the rule of the art[i141].

_The Circumcision_, a large drawing mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. 283, as the work of Leonardo, by Nicolo Gabburri, in a letter dated Florence, 4th Oct. 1732, and addressed _Al Sig. Pietro Mariette_. Gabburri says he saw this drawing, and that it was done on white paper a little tinted with Indian ink, and heightened with ceruse. Its owner then was Alessandro Galilei, an architect of Florence.

_A drawing consisting of several laughing heads, in the middle of which is another head in profile, crowned with oak leaves._ This drawing was the property of the Earl of Arundel, and was engraven by Hollar in 1646[i142].

_A man sitting, and collecting in a looking-glass the rays of the sun, to dazzle the eyes of a dragon who is fighting with a lion._ A print of this is spoken of, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 197, as badly engraven by an anonymous artist, but it is there said to have so little of Leonardo's manner as to afford reason for believing it not designed by him, though it might perhaps be found among his drawings in the King of France's collection. Another print of it, of the same size, has been engraven from the drawing by Conte de Caylus. It represents a pensive man, and differs from the former in this respect, that in this the man is naked, whereas in the drawing he is clothed.

PAINTINGS.

_A Madonna_, formerly in the possession of Pope Clement the Seventh[i143].

_A small Madonna and Child_, painted for Baldassar Turini da Pescia, who was the Datary[i144] at Lyons, the colours of which are much faded[i145]. It is not known where this now is.

_A Virgin and Child_, at one time in the hands of the Botti family[i146].

_The Virgin sitting in St. Ann's lap, and holding her little Son_, formerly at Paris[i147]. This has been engraven in wood, in chiaro oscuro, by an unknown artist. The picture was in the King of France's cabinet, and a similar one is in the sacristy of St. Celsus at Milan[i148].

_Another Virgin with her Son, St. John, and an Angel_, mentioned by Du Fresne, as at Paris[i149].

_A Madonna and Child_, in the possession of the Marquis di Surdi[i150].

_A Madonna and Child_, painted on the wall in the church of St. Onofrio at Rome[i151].

_A Madonna kneeling_, in the King's gallery in France[i152].

_An Holy Family, with St. Michael, and another Angel_, in the King of France's collection[i153].

_A Madonna_, in the church of St. Francis at Milan, attributed to Leonardo by Sorman[i154].

_A Virgin and Child_, by Leonardo, in Piacenza, near the church of Our Lady in the Fields. It was bought for 300 chequins by the Principe di Belgioioso[i155].

_A Madonna, half length, holding on her knee the infant Jesus, with a lily in his hand._ A print of this, engraven in aqua fortis by Giuseppe Juster, is mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 196. The picture is there said to have been in the possession of Charles Patin, and was supposed by some to have been painted for Francis I.

_An Herodiade_, some time in Cardinal Richelieu's possession[i156].

_The daughter of Herodias, with an executioner holding out to her the head of St. John_, in the Barberini palace[i157].

_An Herodiade with a basket, in which is the head of John the Baptist._ A print of this in aqua fortis, by Gio. Troven, under the direction of Teniers, is mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 197, and is there said to have been done from a picture which was then in the cabinet of the Archduke Leopold, but had been before in that of the Emperor.

Another picture of the same subject, but differently disposed. It is also an half length. A print from it, in aqua fortis, by Alessio Loyr, is mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 197; but it is not there said in whose possession the picture ever was.

_The angel_ in Verrochio's picture before mentioned[i158].

_The shield_, mentioned by Vasari, p. 26, as painted by him at the request of his father, and consisting of serpents, &c.

_A head of Medusa_, in oil, in the palace of Duke Cosmo. It is still in being, and in good preservation[i159].

_A head of an angel raising one arm in the air_, in the collection of Duke Cosmo[i160]. Whether this is a picture, or only a drawing, does not appear; but as Vasari does not notice any difference between that and the head of Medusa, which he decidedly says is in oil, it is probable that this is so also.

_The Adoration of the Magi_: it was in the house of Americo Benci, opposite to the Portico of Peruzzi[i161].

_The famous Last Supper_, in the Refectory of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie[i162]. A list of the copies made from this celebrated picture has, together with its history, been given in a former page. A print has been engraven from it under the direction of Pietro Soutman; but he being a scholar of Rubens, has introduced into it so much of Rubens's manner[i163], that it can no longer be known for Leonardo da Vinci's. Besides this, Mariette also mentions two other prints, one of them an engraving, the other an etching, but both by unknown authors. He notices also, that the Count di Caylus had etched it in aqua fortis[i164]. The print lately engraven of it by Morghen has been already noticed in a former page.

_A Nativity_, sent as a present from the Duke of Milan to the Emperor[i165].