da Vinci and the Renaissance Gallery 2019

This image is a sketch of a woodcut for an “elevated icosidodecahedron”; this shape was first sketched by da Vinci in De Divina Proportione. A polyhedron is “elevated” by augmenting each of its faces with a pyramid. This notion of elevation is a reflection of da Vinci’s fascination with the relationship of shapes to one another and the continuity of geometric figures. It is important to note that da Vinci was the first to sketch the icosidodecahedron, both in its standard and elevated form.

Source (for image and information):

Hart, George W. “Leonardo Da…

In all of Da Vinci's sketches for his Sforza monument, he incorporated both art and engineering. The detail of the muscles on the horse’s legs produce a life-like effect and demonstrate its belonging to the Renaissance period. The lines in the background and in the chest of the horse demonstrate his close attention to the placement of each part of the horse, so it remains structurally stable and can be cast into bronze with one pour. The sketch depicted represents Da Vinci’s third main idea for the monument and ultimately the design created into the clay model (Ahl, 1995).

In Karlskrona, Sweden, a model of the Colleoni monument was created to depict the believed construction of the horse. The model depicts the two-piece split of the horse at the rider's saddle as well as the tension been traveling from the top of the front harness through the back of the tail. This specific construction would allow for the horse's inner structure removal and casting in two pieces. This two-part casting saves bronze, money, decreases the weight of the horse, and improves stability (Kulenovic and von Platen).

Along with Da Vinci's study of anatomy, he also studied the faces of many warriors. The significance of this particular warrior sketch lies in its ties to the Colleoni equestrian statue warrior. The facial features match those of Colleoni atop the horse, signaling Da Vinci's influence on Verrocchio's Colleoni monument (Kulenovic and von Platen).

Da Vinci's study of anatomy remains as one of his most astounding science findings. Much of his anatomic studies did not see any application until centuries later; however, his studies of the horse directly influenced the two equestrian statues he designed. Depicted is Da Vinci's sketch of a horse's leg in the air as it walks with lines of dimension measurements on and around it. Using his artistic skills and scientific measurements, Da Vinci helped create structurally stable and realistic equestrian statues. This specific sketch is reflected in Verrocchio's Colleoni equestrian statue…

These sketches show some of Leonardo da Vinci’s designs that could be incorporated into roofs, domes, or other structures. Unlike most other architectural designs during da Vinci’s time, these designs contained complex patterns of reciprocating structures; as a result, da Vinci claims for one design that “the arch stays without any force at all.” Though not put into practice, these designs illustrate da Vinci’s role as a visionary engineer and architect who was unafraid to break away from the status quo - as also evidenced by his design for a self-supporting arched bridge. They were a part…

This photograph, taken by Åsmund Ødegård, showcases the arched structure and wide base that were characteristic of da Vinci’s design and crucial to its self-supporting nature. The materials used for the design was wood-composite. The bridge, limited to pedestrians due to its steep incline, spans 330 feet and is 27 feet tall. It was dedicated in November 2001. In the future, Sand hopes to adapt da Vinci’s bridge design to build bridges all over the world.

Sources:

Nash, E. P. (2001, December 9). TRAVEL ADVISORY; After 500 Years, Leonardo Gets His Bridge. The New York Times.…

Although da Vinci’s geometric sketches ultimately did not have that great of a mathematical impact, several mathematicians still take inspiration from his work. One such mathematician is George Hart, who combined computer, math, and art in his interdisciplinary research on the creation of new polyhedra. These new types of polyhedra are called symmetrohedra, and the process for generating them is called the “propeller operation.” The propeller operation works by expanding a pre-existing polyhedron and introducing new shapes in the space between these separated faces.

Source (for…

Eclipse, which was on display in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in San Francisco, features a “helical explosion of every face, rotating from a dodecahedron through an icosidodecahedron to a small rhombicuboctahedron.” Aside from the fact that da Vinci produced the first printed images of several of these polyhedra, the most interesting part of this sculpture is the way that it depicts the interconnectedness of the shapes in one grand figure. Likewise, the fluid transformation from one shape to another is certainly evocative of da Vanci’s elevated polyhedra.

Source (for image and quotation…

These are early sketches laying out the work of The Last Supper.

Image source: https://www.leonardodavinci.net/study-for-the-last-supper-2.jsp

This sketch (also featured in De Divina Proportione) is da Vinci’s solid edge rendering of the icosahedron. This depiction is called “solid edge” because the faces are see-through and the polyhedron is only viewable in terms of the beams that compose its edges. Notice that in comparison to the solid face approach, it is possible to “see” the backside of the polyhedron— now, one can more easily understand how this polyhedron would occupy three-dimensional space. In a polyhedron as complicated as the icosahedron, it is understandable why da Vinci’s mastery of perspective was crucial…

This is a portrait of Luca Pacioli with geometry equipment and an unknown figure in the background. An important feature to note is the suspended rhombicuboctahedron in the top left corner. This is the first appearance of the polyhedron (which has eight triangular faces and eighteen square faces) in a painting; notice that this painting was done before the publication of da Vinci’s geometric sketches. Since the rhombicuboctahedron is a rather complicated polyhedron, Barbari’s attempt at portraying it is imperfect; it is difficult to make out the individual faces and get a sense of the…

Taken from De Divina Proportione, this sketch is da Vinci’s solid face rendering of the icosahedron, which has twenty equilateral triangles as its faces. This depiction is called “solid face” because the faces are opaque— notice that an observer can only see the “front” of the shape. Even with da Vinci’s mastery of perspective, it is still difficult from this representation to understand what the entire polyhedron looks like in space (for example, the backside of the polyhedron is unclear). An interesting feature of this sketch (and all other of da Vinci’s sketches in De…

This small apparatus of wooden boards surrounding a centralized hole to contain torsion fibers for the torsion catapult were important in not only the development of the catapult, but also mathematical theory as the "cube-root problem" to determine the relationship between the diameter of the bundles of torsion fibers and dimensions of the catapult's main structural materials was proposed and later solved due to this scaling conundrum.  This mathematical feat is commonly overlooked by today's statistical approximations and regression lines…

Through the illustrative schematics of both the digital and three-dimensional drawing of Dionysius' Repeating Catapult of approximately 250 B.C., the uniqueness of its design becomes evidently apparent.  As shown, the repeating catapult utilized a gravity fed magazine full of compact arrows two meters in length and a flat-linked chain-drive system to repeatedly fire arrows as the chain revolved around the catapults' slotted and grooved revolution drum.  Unfortunately, due to the catapult's inability to concentrate its fire on many adjacent targets before running out of ammunition…

These sketches of a self-supporting arched bridge are found in Manuscript L of da Vinci’s Paris Manuscripts. They demonstrate da Vinci’s incredible engineering acumen; though untrained, he intuitively discerned that a parabolic arch with a wide base would offer more support than the designs of other bridges at the time. Though da Vinci gave measurements for the bridge’s length and height, these dimensions were never confirmed or modified because the design was never implemented. It is likely that these sketches were completed in approximately 502 CE, as he sent his letter to Sultan Beyazid…

This is a photograph of the letter that Leonardo da Vinci sent to Sultan Beyazid II of Istanbul during the Second Florentine Period of his life. At the time, da Vinci was attempting to secure a position as a scientist and architect within the Sultan's court. Within the letter, da Vinci proposed an arched bridge from Galata to Istanbul that spanned the Golden Horn. Such a project would have been the longest bridge at the time, made possible by da Vinci's unique design. The letter was recovered in the national archives of Istanbul in 1952 and is currently in the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul.…

This is a portrait of Cesare Borgia. Cesare was the son of Pope Alexander VI and the commander in chief of the papal army. From 1502 to 1503, Leonardo was a patron of Borgia during which da Vinci sketched his ideas for the machine gun.

“Cesare Borgia.” Wikipedia Commons, 8 May 2014, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cesareborgia.jpg.

A digital reconstruction of the Last Supper reveals what the painting may have looked like just after completion. 

Image Source:

Bando, K. (2016). Digital Reconstruction of The Last Supper. [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.leonardoresearch.com/The%20Last%20Supper.html

This is an image of Leonardo da Vinci's aerial screw drawing found in Manuscript B, Folio 83v. Because this image is a full picture of da Vinci's notebook page, his notes about the aerial screw are also visable. This drawing was created by da Vinci in the late 1400s, but he never attempted to create a model of his drawing to test its functionality. The design of this device is thought to be based off of the rotation of maple seeds as they fall to the ground and off of Archimedes' screw created in 200 BC. The device is meant to be powered by four men who push the four wooden shafts in…

This image is a picture of a restored VS-300 helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky in 1939. This helicopter was significant both in the United States and across the world. The VS-300 was the first practical helicopter produced in the U.S. and was the first helicopter in the world to perfect the use of a single main rotor and a tail rotor. This design was used by Sikorsky to create the R-4 helicopter in 1942.

The image was originally uploaded by Horatius on it.wikipedia on Nov. 7, 2008. On Dec. 16, 2009, the image appeared on wikimedia commons under the user FaleBot. This image is…

The Mona Lisa was extremely popular with da Vinci’s contemporaries, especially the younger Raphael. “The young Raphael, …, immediately adopted the compositional format of the older master and established, on the basis of the Mona Lisa, a type of portraiture that was to hold good for decades” (Zllner 161). Raphael’s Young Woman with a Unicorn is very similar to the Mona Lisa in this way, such as the position of the woman and similar facial features.

Zollner, Frank, and Johannes Nathan. Leonardo Da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings. Koln:…

Raphael made a sketch of what da Vinci had planned to make the Mona Lisa in 1504, and it shows both his interest in the painting and what the Mona Lisa was originally supposed to look like. The differences in the sketch and the final product show that da Vinci made significant changes to his painting during his time working on it.

Zollner, Frank, and Johannes Nathan. Leonardo Da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings. Koln: Taschen, 2011. Print.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, this image is in the public domain.

One of the most important paintings relating to the Mona Lisa is the Mona Lisa del Prado. The painting was most likely made by an apprentice of Leonardo’s, either attributed to Salai or Francesco Melzi, and it was made concurrently with the original. Due to its superior upkeep, it has retained its coloring, offering a glimpse of what the Mona Lisa might have looked like closer to the time of da Vinci.

"Work Mona Lisa – Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, Wife of Francesco Del Giocondo." Mona Lisa – Portrait of Lisa…

Considered the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa is one of Leonardo da Vinci's greatest works. He began in 1503 in Florence on a commission for Francesco del Giocondo, and continued to work on over time gradually until his death in 1519. It's full name is Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and it is an oil on poplar wood panel painting. It currently resides in the Louvre museum in Paris, France. It's current valuation is unknown, though its insurance value in 1962 was $100 million ($830…

After numerous restorations and attempts to preserve da Vinci's painting, this is what remains. 

Image Source:

Da Vinci, L. (1498) The Last Supper. [Painting] Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo)

This photo highlights the perspective lines and vanishing point in the Last Supper. 

Image Source:

The Last Supper Perspective (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.leonardodavinci.net/the-last-supper.jsp#prettyPhoto

Upon seeing DaVinci's angel in their painting "Baptism of Christ", Verrocchio vowed to never paint again. As an artisit Verrocchio began to focus on sculpting and drawing due to the shame of his pupil being a better painter than him. This time period after the "Baptism of Christ" results in some of Verrocchio's most famous pieces such as the statue of David that is pictured. This is a bronze statue that was comissioned by the Medici Family and it has been said the statue is modeled after Leonardo DaVinci. 

Soure : …

These sketches of da Vinci's lay out early ideas for Last Supper. He experiments with poses and expressions for some of the disciples.

Image Source:

Da Vinci, L. (1495). Study for the last supper. [Sketch]. Retrieved from https://www.leonardodavinci.net/study-for-the-last-supper-2.jsp

This is one of the first models of Leonardo da Vinci's parachute. This version was constructed by Katarina Ollikainen and tested by Adrian Nicholas in 2000.

Source:
Orton, D. C. (2004, March 29). Parachute. Retrieved from http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/leonardo/parachute.html

This is the patent for the modern day parachute. It was patented in 1920 by inventor Floyd Smith.

Source:
US1340423A - Parachute. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://patents.google.com/patent/US1340423A/en

Slawomir Zubryzycki is the builder and player of the only modern viola organista. Internal images and details are scarce, as this is the only instrument of its kind. However, it is easy to make out many details here, especially in relation to a concert piano. The keyboard and string layouts are very similar to a standard piano, with shorter, higher-pitched strings starting on the right that decrease in pitch by increasing in length as one moves to the left. The major difference is the appearance of large wheels behind the keyboard, as these are what bow the strings and allow the viola…

Da Vinci primarily sketched the Viola Organista in the series of volumes that would become the Codex Atlanticus. This image, from page 93, shows a variety of internal mechanisms that would have been included in the instrument. Of note are the multiple showings of the foot-pedal mechanism, in the lower center and bottom-right of the page. The pedal spins an internal wheel that drives a belt, likely connected to the bowing mechanism at the terminal point. A specific bowing method is unclear here, as a variety of wheel systems are shown but not annotated closely. Roughly twenty-one keys are…

One of the first maps to use the word America, this is a highly accurate map for Da Vinci's time. While Europe is enlarged, the other aspects of this map are mostly correct.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. 

“Leonardo Da Vinci's Mappamundi.” ODT Maps,…

Created by Da Vinci while working for Cesare Borgia, but likely meant for the Florentine government at the time, this map displays the different waterways in the valley, which could be used for making a dam.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. 

Source: “A Map of the Valdichiana.” Royal Collection Trust…

This map was drawn by a Vinci under the service of Cesare Borgia. It features a realistic depiction of the city Imola that still exists today.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Source: “Leonardo Da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519) - A Map of Imola.” Royal Collection Trust,…

St. Mark's Clock, after its restorations.

This drawing shows four mortars outside bombarding the fortress wall with one part of the wall is crumbling. The mortars are placed on earthworks and direct their fire into the fortress. The mortars protected from assault by the debris of the collapsed wall. 

Takac, Balasz. “Neptune, c. 1504-5.” Widewalls, 9 Feb. 2019, www.widewalls.ch/leonardo-da-vinci-drawings/neptune-c-1504-5/.

The Annunciation Triptych, also known as The Merode Altarpiece, is an oil painting made by the workshop of Netherlandish Renaissance painter Robert Campin, around 1427. The central panel features the biblical scene of the Archangel Gabriel appearing to tell Mary she will be the mother of Jesus. The event takes place in a contemporary Netherlandish interior, most likely similar to that of the home of the patron who used this for personal devotion. The scene is rich with detail and symbolism, characteristic of Netherlandish art. A small figure holding a cross can be seen gliding into the…

Created around 1438, Annunciation by Fra Angelico is a fresco painting that can be found in the monastery of San Marco in Florence. It features the Archangel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary in a loggia, sitting peacefully and solemnly accepting her fate. The space is very sparse and lacks the symbolism typically found in other paintings of this story. In particular, it does not feature white lilies, they symbol of the virgin, or Mary reading a bible, a symbol of her piousness. It is possible these elements were not necessary for its place in a monastery, where the monks would already…

Annunciation is generally considered to be one of Leonardo’s earliest works. Dating from around 1472, this painting is made with tempera and oil on a wood panel. The left side of the composition is dominated by the archangel Gabriel who is seen kneeling and holding a bundle of white lilies, the symbol of the virgin. Opposite of Gabriel, Mary is seen acknowledging the arrival of the angel from behind a marble bench, where she was reading. The two figures are surrounded by an earthly environment and architectural elements that highlight the use of linear perspective. Leonardo completed this…

Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man showcases a male figure with perfect proportions enclosed in a perfect circle and a perfect square. The sketch has many religious and mathematical implications. It currently resides in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. 

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Da_Vinci_Vitruve_Luc_Viatour.jpg

Da Vinci's The Vitruvian Man: History & Golden Ratio. Study.com, study.com/academy/lesson/da-vincis-the-vitruvian-man-history-golden-…

Leonardo da Vinci got visual inspiration from two main sketches; one from Francesco di Giorgio and Giacomo Andrea. They both were friends with da Vinci and met with him personally around Lombardy in 1490 and discussed their sketches. Francesco di Giorgio’s sketch of Vitruvian Man features a sketched semi-turned male figure enclosed within a perfect circle centered around the genitals. Giacomo Andrea's Vitruvian Man features a male figure enclosed in a circle and a square, but the body measurements are not as accurate as Vitruvian's original descriptions. 

Sources…

A working recreation of the Antikythera mechanism using legos. A video on the device can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLPVCJjTNgk

A functioning recreation of the Antikythera mechanism.

The front mortar is firing bombs that explode on impact into a cloud of metal shrapnel. The back mortar loaded with stones or small-caliber iron balls that are fired at the enemy like grape-shot. 

“Leonardo Da Vinci | MACHINES COLLECTON - COLLEZIONE DELLE MACCHINE.” LEONARDO3, www.leonardo3.net/leonardo/guerra_eng.php.

Another clockwork design by Leonardo da Vinci, which converts rotational motion into sliding motion.

Below is a physical model based on the drawings of da Vinci.

A sample of da Vinci's gear drawing in the Codex Madrid I.

Included are common gears of his time, including the lantern pinion, and also unique da Vinci designs, such as the worm gear with a helical screw.

The First Commercial Quartz Wristwatch, developed by Suwa Seikosha (Seiko Epson) in 1969.

A few early crystal oscillators from Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Galileo's design for a pendulum clock. Although started before Huygen's design, it was never completed.

Image of a Riefler Prescision Regulator Clock

The mechanism inside the Salisbury Cathedral Clock.

The mechanism inside the Dover Castle Clock, which still includes its original Verge and Foliet escapement.

Brunelleschi was the main designer, engineer, and architect of the Florence Duomo. He was the master of his time, so it is no surprise that Leonardo looked up to him heavily. This sketch comes from Leonardo's notebook and dissects the main components of Brunelleschi's reversible hoist. This is thought to be the main machine that hoisted material to the top of the duomo, making it safe to infer that Leonardo worked closely with Verrocchio and therefore Brunelleschi on the construction of the duomo and its lantern.

Attribution: …

The use of a palette when painting becmae popular in the 15th century when the use of oil paint as a medium grew. Oil paint is made by mixing pigment in with oil, commonly linseed oil. Originally oil paints were only made originally in a few colors, meaning artisit would have to mix small amounts of these colors on thier own to make new shades. This mixing was done on a wooden palette that was mobile and easy to bring around the studio with them. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_painting

Image source…

This is the earliest known drawing by Da Vinci and features the landscape of the Arno Valley and Montelupo Castle.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. 

Source: “Landscape Drawing for Santa Maria Della Neve - by Leonardo Da Vinci.” Leonardodavinci.net,…

This is an image of the design for da Vinci's "flotation device" or parachute. Near it was the following statement:  "if a man has a tent made of linen of which the apertures [openings] have all been stopped up, and it be twelve braccia [about 23 feet] across and twelve in depth, he will be able to throw himself down from any great height without suffering any injury." It was found in one of his notebooks dated 1483. 

Image Source:
Leonardo Da Vinci's Life. (n.d.). Retrieved May 11, 2019, from …

This image is from one of the pages on da Vinci's Treatise on Painting and illustrates his findings on trees.

Image from Sacred Texts, www.sacred-texts.com/aor/dv/img/pl027.jpg.

Leda and the Swan was originally a painting completed by Leonardo da Vinci around 1507. The painting depicts the story of Leda and the Swan and is an example of da Vinci's finest paintings of plants. The original was lost, but many copies were made such as this one by Francesco Melzi. The painting is now located in the Uffizi gallery.

Image from Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leda_Melzi_Uffizi.jpg and within the public domain and fair use.

One aspect of the moon da Vinci was most concerned with was its apparent glow that acted as a sorce of light after the sunset.  At this time, society believed the moon to create its own light source, however, da Vinci realized this was not the case, and observed that Earth reflected the sun's light which was then reflected back from the visible surface of the moon.  He called this phenomena "Earthshine" and believed this reflection occured due to the oceans of both the Earth and the moon being such good reflectors of light.  He was incorrect on both accounts, however, since…

This image depicts a sketch of Leonardo da Vinci's design for the first machine gun. It was known as a 33-barreled organ since the barrels of the gun resembled the pipes of an organ. The barrels of the gun were mounted on a revolving triangular piece. The idea was that simulatenously the first side would fire, the second side would cool down, and the third side would be loaded. Da Vinci was commissioned to create this piece by Cesare Borgia. The exact date of the piece is not known, but it is known that da Vinci was a patron of Borgia from 1502 to 1503.

“Progetto Organico…

Leonardo never published his geological findings; however, other artists studied his work to enhance the realism of their own geological depictions. One such artist is Albrecht Dürer, nicknamed the German Leonardo for his intellectual curiosity. His “Quarry” was painted after two visits to Italy in which he studied Leonardo’s work. With emphasis on horizontally stratified rocks and vertical joints, da Vinci and Dürer are able to create open, three-dimensional spaces, an increasingly important aspect of Renaissance paintings.

John Constable painted Wivenhoe Park in 1816. In Art and Illusion, E. H. Gombrich sees this painting as the apogée of changes to art that were implemented in the Renaissance (e.g., the adoption of perspective and the illusion of three-dimenionality). As he writes,

Constable’s painting of Wivenhoe Park looks so natural and obvious that we are inclined to overlook its daring and its success.  We accept it as simply a faithful record of what the artist actually saw in front of him—”a mere transcript of nature,” as paintings of…

Verrocchio's lantern and the bronze ball reside at the top of the Florence Duomo (or Brunelleschi's Duomo). Da Vinci was an apprentice of Verrocchio at the time of the construction of these finishing pieces and is thought to have contributed to the project. 

Attribution: https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/726ec679-89d0-4ff1-b3f7-a2ad3…

As seen in “The Virgin of the Rocks,” Leonardo da Vinci’s insights on geology contributed to the realism of his work. This painting depicts Madonna, child Jesus, infant John the Baptist, and an angel in a rocky setting reminiscent of the mountains in northeastern Italy. Leonardo’s studies on geology allowed him to create a three dimensional space and depth in the painting. Linear perspective is created by contrasting the jagged rocks in the cave and the hazy mountains in the distance.

Also known as “Landscape with Waterfall” and “Landscape with River,” this is da Vinci’s earliest known work, dated to August 4, 1473.  It’s considered one of the first realistic landscape-views, due in large part to da Vinci’s own observations. The drawing is geologically correct: thin at the bottom and thick at the top, like the Turbidite sequences found in the Apennines Mountains.

Almost a century before the first telescope was invented, da Vinci was able to sketch a relativly accuracte depiction of the moon's surface.  He recognized that, rather than its surface being smooth, the moon has many "spots" that cover its exterior.  He mentions in a notebook entry that his reasoning stems from the difference in appearence of the moon when examining it from different perspectives, such as east and west, while analyzing it from the same perspective, the appearence remains the same. It should also be noted that his entries make no note of lunar crators, so…

Leonardo da Vinci began his anatomical drawings arounf 1489 with that of the skull. He drew the skull based on the dissections he was able to complete. He work is admirred for its accuracy and proportion; taking specific interst of the different angles and cross-sections of the complicated boney stucture. He even goes on to draw and number the different type and positions of the teeth. 

Sources:

Skull: Takac, B. (2019). The Life of Leonardo da Vinci examined through 12 Seminal Drawings. Wide Walls.

This picture was drawn around the 1510's and depicts the first correctly drawn fetus as it lies in the womb. Da Vinci sketched this picture without having access to a pregnant female or fetus cadaver. He used information from his cow dissections to reconstruct a human fetus, which explains why the uterus and spherical versus pear-shaped. Da Vinci use of black ink with a red chalk over lay "captures the human condition with a spiritual beauty that is at once unnerving and ennobling" as said by Walter Isaacson in Leonardo da Vinci  (2017). It is currently on display in the…

The mortars were intended to discharge Greek fire to burn the rigging and sails of enemy ships.  The bottom drawing shows a box-shaped mortar mounted on a small boat. Unfortunately,  such a small boat would most likely capsize if mortar fired. 

“Leonardo Da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519) - Recto: Designs for Gun-Barrels and Mortars. Verso: A Town Wall Being Blown Up.” Royal Collection Trust, www.rct.uk/collection/912652/rectonbspdesigns-…