Leonardo and «Mag.° Antonio Florentino». Evidence of Lost da Vinci Treatises in the Foglietto del Belvedere of the Pedretti Archive

Abstract

This paper proposes to the attention of Leonardo scholars an This paper proposes an unpublished manuscript from the Pedretti Foundation Archive in Lamporecchio for the attention of scholars of Leonardo da Vinci entrusted to me by the illustrious Prof. Carlo Pedretti, who, unfortunately, died recently. The analysis of this brief and enigmatic Foglietto del Belvedere shows not only the likely contact of Leonardo with «mag.° Antonio florentino» (pseudonym of the architect and engineer Antonio Marchesi da Settignano) at the Belvedere in Rome, between 1515 and 1516, but also the existence, in that context, of two lost Leonardo da Vinci treatises: the first, owned by «mag.° Antonio» himself, «trattava di acque e di volo di Homini (dealt with waters and Men flight)»; the second, «un libro de pictura (a book of painting)», belonged to a «ser Antonio (Mr. Antonio)» whose surname is illegible.
Based of these elements, this study – far from being considered exhaustive – can be useful for a discussion with the scholars, despite the cryptic nature of the Foglietto; it could offer a new element within the complex mosaic of the diffusion of Leonardo da Vinci’s scientific, artistic and technical method during the Early Modern age. Thus, on the occasion of the Fifth Centenary after his death, we hope to give a new contribution to the history of the great scientist-artist’s thought.