The Madrid Codices I–II (I – Ms. 8937 i II – Ms. 8936), are two

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

which were discovered in the

Biblioteca Nacional de España The (National Library of Spain) is the national library of Spain. It is the largest public library in the country, and one of the largest in the world. Founded in 1711, it is an autonomous agency attached to the Ministry of Culture since 1 ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1965 by Dr. Jules Piccus, Language Professor at the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...

. The Madrid Codices I was finished during 1490 and 1499, and II from 1503 to 1505.Codexes
The two codices were brought to Spain by Pompeo Leoni, a sculptor in the court of Philip II. After various changes of ownership, they were transferred to the monastic library of

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial, Madrid, El ...

and finally to the Biblioteca Real, where they remained unknown for 252 years.

Description

The two volumes, containing 197 pages, are bound in red leather. Topics discussed include

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

statics Statics is the branch of classical mechanics that is concerned with the analysis of force and torque acting on a physical system that does not experience an acceleration, but rather is in mechanical equilibrium, equilibrium with its environment ...

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

and construction of fortifications. There is a list of 116 books Leonardo was using at the time, including some basic Latin

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

books. The text is written in Italian dialect with some errors. The manuscripts are of great importance as they contain about 15% of Leonardo's notes referenced today, but are also important for the quality and relevance of the works they contain, which are among the major engineering treatises of their time.

History

After Leonardo's death the codices were inherited by his pupil and heir

Francesco Melzi Francesco Melzi, or Francesco de Melzi (1491–1570), was an Italian painter born into a family of the Milanese nobility in Lombardy. He became a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci and remained as his closest friend and professional assistant throughout h ...

. Over fifty years later Pompeo Leoni, a sculptor in the service of Philip II, purchased them from Melzi's son Orazio and brought them to Spain. When he died in 1608 the manuscripts were transferred to Juan de Espina, a friend of Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas, portrayed at the time as: "a gentleman who lives alone in a mansion in Madrid and his servants are wooden automata." On a visit to Madrid in 1623 the future

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...

became interested in the manuscripts, but Juan de Espina refused to sell them.Brotton, J., ''The Sale of the Late King's Goods: Charles I and His Art Collection'', p. 95 The Codex arrived at the Biblioteca Real in 1712, where for various reasons they remained lost until 1964. According to Martin Abad, manuscript manager for the library, their misplacement was "due to the transfer of the Biblioteca Real to four different locations, a fatal confusion of a signature and due as well to the aura of Da Vinci, which blinded many trying to attach their fame to that of the genius."

Facsimile editions

* Codex Madrid I (Ms. 8937) and Codex Madrid II (Ms. 8936) World Wide Emission. * Codex Madrid I (Ms. 8937) "Treaty of statics and mechanics", 192 folios with 384 pages. Internal format: 215 x 145 mm. * Codex Madrid II (Ms. 8936) "Treaty of fortification, statics and geometry". 158 folios with 316 pages. Internal format: 210 x 145 mm. * The Madrid Codices. McGraw-Hill Inc, US, 1974. Five volumes, complete, with original manuscript, Italian and English translation.

References

Bibliography

BNE, Leonardo interactivo
*
''Leonardo da Vinci: anatomical drawings from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle''
exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Codex Madrid (see index)

External links

A scan of the Codex Madrid
on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...