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Medieval and Renaissance Treasures from the Victoria and Albert Museum
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Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452–1519)
Codex Forster 11, 3v–4r, ca. 1505
Pen and ink; 5 3/4 x 4 1/2 x 3/24 in. (14.5 x 11.5 x 2 cm)
Forster Bequest
Victoria & Albert Museum (Forster MS.141/1)
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Leonardo's notebooks reveal the extraordinary range of his interests and pursuits. He described himself as a "disciple of experience" and stressed the importance of verifying knowledge through the senses. This volume contains two notebooks, subsequently bound together, that reflect Leonardo's fascination with mathematics, especially geometry. In this opening folio, he examines a method for calculating the dimensions of a body as its length and volume are decreased to a given size and how "to make a pair of compasses diminish or increase a part of their measurement with equal proportion in each part." In the exhibition galleries, the codex is opened to a different folio.
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