EA 7347 HISTARA

Histoire de l’art,

des représentations et de

l’administration en europe

Leonardo da Vinci and Architecture

Auteur(s)
Jean Guillaume, Sara Taglialagamba Carol Barbour (translation)
E-Book (PDF) ISBN: 978-90-04-53727-9 Publication: 23 Jan 2025 EUR €166.80EUR €139.00 excl. VAT Hardback ISBN: 978-90-04-53726-2 Publication: 23 Jan 2025 EUR €146.65EUR €139.00 excl. VAT
Preface
List of Figures

Leonardo and His Patrons
Sabine Frommel
1 A Silent Dialogue: Lorenzo the Magnificent
2 Leonardo at the Court of Lodovico Sforza
3 The “prestantissimo et delectissimo familiare architecto et ingegnero generale” of Cesare Borgia
4 Representatives of the King of France in Milan: Charles d’Amboise and Gian Giacomo Trivulzio
5 At the Court of Leo X
6 At the Court of Francis I

The Painted Architecture
Sabine Frommel
1 From the Annunciation (Uffizi) to the Last Supper (Santa Maria delle Grazie)
2 Architectural Drawings for Potential Paintings and Stage Designs

The tiburio of Milan Cathedral
Jean Guillaume
1 The Structure of the tiburio
2 The Exterior Appearance: The Dome Preferred to the tiburio
3 A Two-Domed Structure

The Central-Plan Church
Jean Guillaume
1 Plan Types
2 Plans Expressed in Volumes
3 Elevations
4 A Church Façade
5 Leonardo and the Religious Architecture of the Renaissance

Funerary Monuments
Sabine Frommel
1 The Project for a Mausoleum
2 The Funerary Monument of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio

Urban Reconstruction and the Ideal City
Sabine Frommel
1 Contemporary Research on the New Form of the City: Imagined Space and the Treatise
2 Urban Reconstruction Projects in Milan: Functionality and Political Strategy
3 From the Medici to Francis I: 1512–1519
4 A Different Method: Giuliano da Sangallo

Fortifications
Sabine Frommel
1 Drawings of Defensive Structures during the First Milanese Sojourn
2 Leonardo “architetto e ingenere generale” of Cesare Borgia
3 Projects since 1503: Again the Fortress of Piombino and the Second Sojourn in Milan
4 Leonardo’s Approach

Palaces and Villas
Sabine Frommel
1 Projects Linked to Specific Sites and Programs
2 The Country House of a Rich Landowner
3 The Villa of Charles d’Amboise
4 Villa Melzi
5 The Ideal Projects of Palaces and Villas with a Central Plan
6 The Façades

The Staircase with Several Ascents
Jean Guillaume

10 Architectural Language: The Use of Orders
Jean Guillaume

11 Theatrical Architecture, Festivals, and Ephemeral Constructions in Leonardo’s Work
Sara Taglialagamba
1 Mechanical Paradises
2 Entertainment: Animated Forms and “Marvelous” Works
3 In the Service of the French

12 Leonardo and Antique Architecture: A Versatile Dialogue
Sabine Frommel
1 Assimilation of the Pantheon
2 Variations on the tholos
3 Thoughts on the Villa Inspired by Antiquity
4 Adoptions of More Complex Modalities Derived from Antique Origins

13 Leonardo, His Contemporaries and His Legacy
Sabine Frommel
1 From Florence to Milan: The Expanding References
2 The Three Sojourns of Leonardo in Rome: Bramante and New Challenges
3 Filarete, Francesco di Giorgio, Leonardo da Vinci, and Baldassarre Peruzzi
4 The Florentines’ Network
5  Nachleben in the Drawing of the Codex Chlumzcanzky and in Serlio’s Treatise

14 Leonardo in France
Jean Guillaume
1 Romorantin
2 Chambord

15 Leonardo’s Singularity
Jean Guillaume

16 Leonardo the Architect?
Sabine Frommel
1 Is There a “Leonardo Method”?
2 From Inclinations to Principles

Bibliography
Index

Found scattered among his numerous manuscripts, Leonardo’s studies on architecture were conceived during an artistic journey of close to fifty years while their author was in the service of the most prestigious patrons. Dealing with churches, ephemeral monuments, urban reconstruction, fortifications, palaces and villas, and painted architecture—mostly ideal in nature—they are part of the architectural evolution of the late quattrocento and early cinquecento. Leonardo’s drawings assimilate the ideas of the pioneers of Renaissance architecture and focus on particular aspects, such as interventions on existing structures, classical orders, staircases, and decoration. Leonardo’s analysis sheds light on dialogues with Bramante, Francesco di Giorgio, Giuliano da Sangallo, Michelangelo, Baldassare Peruzzi and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and allows us to better understand whether his contributions were innovative, or singular interpretations of the achievements of his time.

This is an augmented translation of Leonardo e l’architettura (Modena: Franco Cosimo Panini, 2019).