of the pencil in a most admirable manner, as may be seen by certain specimens from his own hand which I have in my book of drawings. He drew on paper also with so much care and so perfectly, that no one has ever equalled him in this respect: I have a head by him in chiaro-scuro, which is incomparably beautiful. Leonardo was indeed so imbued with power and grace by the hand of God, and was endowed with so marvellous a facility in reproducing his conceptions; his memory also was always so ready and so efficient in the service of his intellect, that in discourse he won all men by his reasonings, and confounded every antagonist, however powerful, by the force of his arguments.
This master was also frequently occupied with the construction of models and the preparation of designs for the removal or the perforation of mountains, to the end that they might thus be easily passed from one plain to another. By means of levers, cranes, and screws, he likewise showed how great weights might be raised or drawn; in what manner ports and havens might be cleansed and kept in order, and how water might be obtained from the lowest deeps. From speculations of this kind he never gave himself rest, and of the results of these labours and meditations there are numberless examples in drawings, &c., dispersed among those who practise our arts: I have myself seen very many of them.[1] Besides all this lie wasted not a little time, to the degree of even designing a series of cords, curiously intertwined, but of which any separate strand may be distinguished from one end to the other, the whole forming a
- ↑ A certain portion of these, published at Milan in 1704, were republished at the same place with notes, by Vallardi, in 1830, There were thirteen folio volumes of Leonardo’s writings and drawings in the Ambrosian Library (Milan), but these were taken to Paris; and one only, the Codex Atlantico, which treats principally of mechanics, has been returned. These also have been published by Girolamo Mantelli of Canobio (Milan, 1785). There is a specimen of Leonardo’s MSS. at Holkham; this is a small folio, with the title, Libro originale di Natura, &c., &c., it is written from right to left, as was the custom of Leonardo, and the text is illustrated by means of drawings; there is likewise an ancient copy of the same work at Holkham. For many curious instances of the fact that this extraordinary genius had made various discoveries and produced numerous inventions in science generally, and in physics more particularly, some of which have been re-discovered or re-invented during succeeding ages, see Amoretti, Metnorie Storiche, with the works of Gerli and Chamberlaine.
