Leonardo da Vinci's arguments for the supremacy of painting over the arts of poetry, music, and sculpture address issues that have been relevant to debates over the nature of representation since the time Plato discussed imitation until today, maintains Claire Farago in this wide-ranging critical analysis of the first important modern contribution to the comparison of the arts. This study systematically examines 46 passages compiled in the mid-sixteenth century from eighteen of Leonardo's notebooks and their relationship to the artist's holograph writings on painting, providing a critical transcription newly made from the Codex Vaticanus Urbinas 1270 and a new English translation with extensive notes that take into account Leonardo's scientific terminology, the highly contrived form of his rhetorical argumentation, and the role played by his original editors.
Author(s): Claire J. Farago
Series: Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 25
Publisher: E. J. Brill
Year: 1992
Language: English, Italian
Pages: 492
City: Leiden
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND PREFACE
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ABBREVIATIONS
PART ONE. CRITICAL INTERPRETATION
CHAPTER ONE. THE PARAGONE
The Term Paragone
The Manuscript Sources
LEONARDO'S WRITINGS IN THE HISTORY OF THE PARAGONE
The Sixteenth Century
The Early Seventeenth Century
CHAPTER TWO. THE RIVALRY OF THE ARTS IN LEONARDO'S TIME
THE FORMAL SOURCES OF POLEMICAL COMPARISONS OF THE ARTS
The Epideictic Tradition
The Ancient Agon and Medieval Poetic Contests
Rivalry of the Arts at the Sforza Court
Practice of the 'Rival' Arts
The Oral Tradition
Renaissance Adaptations of Traditional Forms
THE SUBSTANTIVE SOURCES OF POLEMICS COMPARING THE ARTS
Debates on the Classification of the Liberal Arts
Florentine Debates over the Status of Poetry
The Nature of Nobility
The Issue of Method
CHAPTER THREE. LEONARDO'S DEFENSE OF PAINTING
An Overview of Leonardo's Arguments
The Visual Force of Painted Images
The "Trattato Sequences": Apparent and Pictorial Color
"Bello Rilievo" and the Problem of Pupil Dilation
Principles of the Science of Painting: Treatment of Boundaries
On Leonardo's Contribution to Pictorial Perspective
CHAPTER FOUR. LEONARDO'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE 'PARACONE' TRADITION
The Status of the Sixteenth-Century Artist
Postscript
PART TWO. THE PARTE PRIMA OF THE CODEX VATICANUS URBINAS 1270
INTRODUCTION
Physical Features of the Manuscript
History of the Compilation
The Manuscript Sources of the 'Parte Prima'
The Role of the Compilers of the Codex Urbinas
Editorial Procedures
TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE 'PARTE PRIMA'
Italian Texts
Translation
COMMENTARY NOTES
SECTION 1. Definitions of Painting, Chapters 1-12
SECTION 2. Comparisons of Painting and Poetry, Chapters 13-28
SECTION 3. Comparisons of Painting and Music, Chapters 29-32
SECTION 4. Comparisons of Painting and the Mechanical Arts, Chapters 33 and 34
SECTION 5. Comparisons of Painting and Sculpture, Chapters 35-45; and Chapter 46 on Poetry
APPENDIX 1. 'Trattato Sequences' in Leonardo's Writings
APPENDIX 2. Guide to Related Passages in the Original Manuscripts
CONSOLIDATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
PHOTOGRAPHIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INDEX
