The drawing in the Codex Trivulzianus

In the pages of the Notebook several drawings by Leonardo of caricatured and grotesque heads can be glimpsed (p. 2), as well as two profiles of male figures in metalpoint by the artist and then traced over in ink by another hand (pp. 59, 73). The accentuated features of these faces seem designed to provoke astonishment and wonder, and make a vivid impression on the mind of the observer. It should be remembered that, throughout his artistic career, Leonardo was constantly attracted by the contrast between forms of perfect beauty and the potential monstrosities of the human figure. 

On seven pages of the Codex Trivulzianus, Leonardo’s drawings are done not in ink, but in metalpoint. The engraved drawing is clearly visible in oblique light. On pages 5 and 7, later used by the artist for another kind of text and drawings, two sketches of human legs can be distinguished. Elsewhere, for example in the male profiles on pages 59 and 73, but also in the male figure (perhaps dancing) on page 30, the engraving was later retraced in ink by another hand, which follows the original lines only approximately.