
Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci: Recto: Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci ©
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was famous in his day as an artist. Today he is just as well known for his scientific investigations, which he recorded in his notebooks and in thousands of drawings.
The unifying theme of Leonardo’s researches was an urge to understand the phenomena of nature. This would allow the artist to create a true image of the world, and indeed some of Leonardo’s most beautiful drawings of plants and animals were studies for his paintings and sculptures. He also intended to write a treatise on the theory of painting, which would cover many aspects of the appearance of the natural world. This in turn spawned separate treatises - never completed - on anatomy (both human and animal), on the movement of water, and on botany, concentrating on the physical structure of plants and trees.
The six hundred drawings by Leonardo in the Royal Library were acquired, probably by Charles II, in the late seventeenth century.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
A rocky ravine
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
An outcrop of stratified rock
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
A rearing horse, and a horse's hind leg
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Studies of a horse
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
A horse divided by lines
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
A bear's foot
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum), wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa) and sun spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) and wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Job's tears (Coix lachryma-jobi)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Oak (Quercus robur) and dyer's greenweed (Genista tinctoria)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
The seed-heads of two rushes (Scirpus lacustris and Cyperus sp.), with notes
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Recto: A copse of trees. Verso: A tree
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Recto: The uterus of a gravid cow. Verso: The anatomy of the mouth
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Cats, lions, and a dragon
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Horses, St George and the Dragon, and a lion
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)