Sublime

Il développe un talent pour mémoriser les traits d’un visage afin de les dessiner plus tard. Il définit 10 types de nez (« droit, bulbeux, concave… »), 11 formes de visage et diverses autres caractéristiques.

Leonardo broke with this tradition by basing his science primarily on observations, then discerning patterns, and then testing their validity through more observations and experiments. Dozens of times in his notebook he wrote some variation of the phrase “this can be proved by experiment” and then proceeded to describe a real-world demonstration of

At the Pollaiuolo workshop, anatomy was being studied so that the young sculptors and painters could better understand the human form. Artists learned the science of perspective and how angles of light produce shadows and the perception of depth. The culture rewarded, above all, those who mastered and mixed different disciplines.

Leonardo realized that the art of painting and the science of optics were inseparable from the study of perspective. Along with the proper ability to deploy shadows, the mastery of various types of perspective allowed painters to convey a three-dimensional beauty on a flat surface. A true understanding of perspective involved more than merely a for

Pacioli later called Leonardo the “most worthy of painters, perspectivists, architects and musicians, one endowed with every perfection,” and he recalled “that happy time when we were both in the employ of the most illustrious Duke of Milan, Ludovico Maria Sforza Anglo, in the years of Our Lord 1496 to 1499.”

While he was in Imola with Machiavelli and Borgia, Leonardo made what may be his greatest contribution to the art of war. It is a map of Imola, but not any ordinary map (fig. 87).18 It is a work of beauty, innovative style, and military utility. It combines, in his inimitable manner, art and science.

All of Leonardo’s paintings are psychological, and all give vent to his desire to portray emotions, but none more intensely than Saint Jerome.

There was harmony in proportions, Leonardo learned, and math was nature’s brushstroke.

Le génie de Léonard est pourtant humain, alimenté par sa volonté et son ambition propres. Au contraire de Newton ou d’Einstein, Dieu ne l’a pas doté d’une intelligence hors norme. Il ne reçoit presque aucune éducation et peut à peine lire le latin ou effectuer de longues divisions. Son génie est de ceux que l’on peut comprendre et dont on peut même