Page 287 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

regardless of the number of percussions to which
it is subject. In the motions of water and air, this
inevitability is manifested in the violent config-
uration of vortices. Although the means are ana-
lytical, we sense that the end is expressive, and,
indeed, other of Leonardo's notes make it clear
that this expressive power was a conscious part of
his intention: "Oh what fearful noises were heard
throughout the air as it was pounded by the fury
of the discharged bolts of thunder and lightning
that violently shot through it to strike whatever
opposed their course. Oh, how many might you
have seen covering their ears with their hands in
abhorrence of the uproar caused by the raging,
rain-soaked winds, the thunder of the heavens
and the fury of the fiery bolts" (Kemp 1989, 585).
This union of a deep, analytical understanding
of natural phenomena and the artist's ability to
depict significant events with full communicative
potency provided the foundation for Leonardo's
theory of art. M.K.

189

Leonardo da Vinci
Florentine, 1452-1519
vortex motion here than in the other drawings In this passage, Leonardo describes the furious ALLEGORY WITH A WOLF AND EAGLE
from the series. destructive power of the deluge in the objective
It is tempting to read these drawings romanti- terms of his dynamic theory—impact, percussion, c. 1515-1516
cally as the private expression of an old man's rebound, curvature, and primary motion. In the red chalk on gray-brown paper
5
deep pessimism, but they may more properly be same way, the representation of the vortices in 17 x 28 (6 /s x 11)
regarded as powerful illustrations for the sections the drawings is founded upon his vivid depiction references: Popham 1946, 125; Clark and
in Leonardo's projected treatise on painting. The of the motions of turbulent water in his hydro- Pedretti 1968-1969, 12496; Pedretti 1982, 547%-
note at the top of the sheet confirms its "instruc- dynamic research. At the heart of his theory was London 1989, 82
tional" character: "On rain. Show the degrees of the concept of impetus, which decreed that any Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth u r Royal Library,
rain falling at various distances and of varied dark- moving object must complete its assigned motion Windsor Castle
ness; and the darker part will be closer to the
middle of its thickness."
Leonardo's written descriptions of "the deluge
and its display in painting" contain passages that
are very close to the phenomena depicted in this
drawing: "Let some mountains collapse headlong
into the depth of a valley The river bursts the
dam and rushes out in high waves. Let the biggest
of these strike and demolish the cities and country
residences of that valley. And let the disinte-
gration of the high buildings of the said cities
raise much dust which will rise up like smoke
or wreathed clouds through the descending
rain.... The waves that in concentric circles flee
the point of impact are carried by their impetus
across the path of other circular waves moving out
of step with them, and after the moment of per-
cussion leap up into the air without breaking for-
mation But if the waves strike against any
object, then they rebound on top of the advent
of the other waves, following the same increase
in curvature they would have possessed in their
former primary motion" (Kemp 1989, 583).

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