The Codex Arundel: mapping Leonardo's working life
Discover the working life of Leonardo da Vinci through the Codex Arundel
Codex Arundel, Arundel MS 263, ff.42v-43r (1478–1518) by Leonardo da VinciOriginal Source: Arundel MS 263
The Codex Arundel is one of approximately 20 surviving notebooks created by Leonardo. It spans almost all of Leonardo’s working life, from 1478, when he was 26, until his death in 1519, aged 67. Offering a fascinating overview of his diverse preoccupations, it contains insightful notes and drawings relating to his professional work and personal interests.
Codex Arundel, Arundel MS 263, ff.251v-250r (1478–1518) by Leonardo da VinciOriginal Source: Arundel MS 263
Leonardo is perhaps the world’s most famous polymath: the curiosity of his mind knew no boundaries and he excelled in multiple fields such as architecture, mechanics, engineering, music, sculpture and painting.
It may be a surprise to some, then, that he didn’t have a formal education. As such he didn’t learn Latin in his youth, but sought to learn it by himself later in life, as this sheet of notes demonstrates. “Tell me if anything was ever done ...”. This phrase, often used by Leonardo, opens the sheet which continues with a list of Latin voices: “vel, sunt, hec ....”.
Florence, 1464–1482
At 14, Leonardo began an apprenticeship in the workshop of the artist Verrocchio. Living in Florence also gave him the opportunity to study the River Arno, and he witnessed first-hand the destructive powers of the river when it flooded. In these notes Leonardo describes these natural forces.
Codex Arundel, Arundel MS 263, ff.251v-250r (1478–1518) by Leonardo da VinciOriginal Source: Arundel MS 263
This sketch was likely made for a court festival or tournament.
Codex Arundel, Arundel MS 263, ff.251v-250r, detail (1478–1518) by Leonardo da VinciOriginal Source: Arundel MS 263
Leonardo explains that the peacock was to be part of the decoration of a horseman’s helmet...
... and that every ornament on the rider’s horse was to have a peacock’s feather drawn on a gold background.
Florence, 1500–1506
In 1500 Leonardo was back in Florence, employed as a hydraulic engineer, or ‘Master of Water’. Pisa had claimed independence from Florence and Leonardo was tasked with diverting the Arno away from Pisa. This would deprive it of supplies, thus leaving it vulnerable to reconquest by the Florentines.
Milan, 1506–1513
Leonardo returned to Milan in 1506, but was back in Florence in 1508. In that year he wrote in his notebook: “This is a disordered gathering taken from numerous papers which I have copied here, in the hope that I will subsequently arrange them in proper order, according to their different subjects.”
Codex Arundel, Arundel MS 263, ff.270v-263r (1478–1518) by Leonardo da VinciOriginal Source: Arundel MS 263
Leonardo’s interests in architecture and water are also evident in this drawing of buildings and water courses for the French town of Romorantin.
A sketch map in the middle of the sheet shows the landscape between Romorantin and Tours.
Last words?
The pages of the Codex Arundel were some of the last on which Leonardo was working on before his death. On one sheet, Leonardo muses that he must stop writing ‘because my soup is getting cold’. Is this rather mundane comment the last piece of writing we have in Leonardo’s hand?
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