The Notebook of Leonardo da Vinci

Though the world knows Leonardo da Vinci as one of the greatest artist, he had not considered himself as an artist. Considering his stature today, he did not many art-works to his credit. In a letter to the duke of Milan da Vinci wrote a letter to consider him for a job. In that he explained his skills in engineering, building bridges, and military equipment, etc. Only at the end in the 11^th paragraph of the letter did he say that he also could paint.

Leonardo's Notebook

What reveals Leonardo to us is his famous notebook. He had a habit of writing and sketching his ideas on a notebook. Even the great work Vitruvian Man is an image from his notebook. His notebook writings and scribbles had around 13000 pages. On his notebooks he wrote in mirror script. Nobody could easily read it, unless a mirror is placed against it. He did it that way perhaps to hide his initial thoughts from others because most of them were from his fertile imagination, and were not tried and proved. But today most of the technology and instruments that Da Vinci had envisaged have come to be possible. Active writing on a notebook, or scribbling on pages is a great way to imagine and realistically dream.

I wont be fully wrong if I have say that the only continuous companion that Leonardo da Vinci had was his notebook. Da Vinci was not born in a proper accepted marital relationship, therefore he was not even allowed to take the family name (Vinci is the place he was born). He was born through his father’s relationship with a farmer girl. Look back that perhaps was a blessing to Leonardo because if he were born through the wife of his father he would have studied and become a layer and notary like his father, may be a famous one, but surely not the world famous Leonardo da Vinci.

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