. Leonardo da Vinci, artist, thinker and man of science;. f they were not in the midst of his own writings. Hissketches for the Virgin and Child with a cat—the mothers figuresingularly thick-set and ungraceful—are no less rough and yet the master had drawn the free and confident portrait of theconspirator Baroncelli as early as 1478. Thus, at every turn we areconfronted by anomalies ; at every moment, his pen becomes as clumsyas that of an inexperienced scholar. Leonardo looked at drawing from three points of view. Firstly, asan art in itself,—an end, and not merely a means. The el
. Leonardo da Vinci, artist, thinker and man of science;. f they were not in the midst of his own writings. Hissketches for the Virgin and Child with a cat—the mothers figuresingularly thick-set and ungraceful—are no less rough and yet the master had drawn the free and confident portrait of theconspirator Baroncelli as early as 1478. Thus, at every turn we areconfronted by anomalies ; at every moment, his pen becomes as clumsyas that of an inexperienced scholar. Leonardo looked at drawing from three points of view. Firstly, asan art in itself,—an end, and not merely a means. The elaboration ofsome of his portraits sufficiently proves this. His disinterestednesson this point was greater than that of Raphael, whose drawings arealmost without exception sketches and cartoons for his , drawing was in Leonardos eyes a preliminary to theexecution of pictures and statues ; and thirdly, a kind of graphic com-mentary on, or necessary illustration of, his works. In the last case, Head of an Old Ma7i. (BRITISH MUSEUM.). LEONARDOS DRAWINGS 215 drawing was to him merely a form of writing, a means of renderinghis thought more clearly. These rough sketches of his show the mostadmirable penetration and precision ; they evoke the very essenceof beings and of things. The most complex mechanisms becomeintelligible under Leonardos pen or pencil. Setting aside the innumerable sketches that illustrate the manu-scripts, we have two distinct categories of drawings to consider :drawings made in preparation for pictures, and studies of heads.^ The first, I am bound to admit, betray a certain vacillation. Theconception is too often confused, the handling hasty, and occasionallyincorrect. Leonardo here obej-s the precept in the Trattato deltaPittura (cap. 64) : When sketching out a composition, work rapidly,and do not elaborate the drawing of the limbs. It will be enough toindicate their position ; and you can finish them afterwards at yourleisure. The studies
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