LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519

Leonardo da VINCI Vinci, 1452–Amboise, 1519 Mountains Red chalk heightened with white on orange-red prepared paper About 1508–1513 (?) While designing the landscape for his painting of Saint Anne, Leonardo, who had returned to Milan in 1506, made several studies of the Alps.This particular period in his drawing is characterised by the use of red chalk with stumping, heightened with white on red paper; this enabled him to create some very subtle light tran- sitions, transposed into paint with skilful blends of lapis lazuli and lead white. The Royal Collection, Windsor, RL 12410, loaned by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 0 92 repared paper ? Saint An e, Leonard , wh had return d to Milan in 1506, with stumping, hei ht ned with hite on red paper; this enabled him to create some very subtle light transitions, ransposed in paint with kilful blends of lapi lazuli a lead white. The Royal Collection, Windsor, RL 12410, loaned by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Leonardo da VINCI Vinci, 1452–Amboise, 1519 Botany: the Growth of Trees Pen and brown ink About 1496–1497 From his observation of the growth of trees, Leonardo inferred a law according to which all the branches of a tree, at every stage of its height, when put together are equal in thickness to the trunk. In the late 20th century, the mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot coined the word ‘fractal’ to describe the kind of phenomenon observed by Leonardo, in which the same pattern is repeated over and over. Institut de France, Paris, Manuscript M, fol. 78v–79r 0 93