[Foreign Book] Leonardo da Vinci: The Great Secret of His Art Is 'Optics'

Francesca Fiorani 'The Shadow Drawing'

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Leonardo da Vinci (1452?1519) of the Italian Renaissance era is regarded as a genius. He is famous as the painter who left behind the masterpieces of the century, "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper." However, beyond art, he also demonstrated outstanding achievements in various fields such as architecture, music, and astronomy.

The Renaissance period was a time when the realm of science, established through experimentation, had not yet formed a definite system. Therefore, artists of the time often made remarkable contributions in the field of science as well.

Francesca Fiorani, a professor of art history at the University of Virginia, examines how science influenced Leonardo in her new book, The Shadow Drawing. The area Professor Fiorani focuses on is optics.

Professor Fiorani argues that the Book of Optics written by the Arab philosopher Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham (965?1039) likely had a significant impact on Leonardo. This Arab philosopher was widely known in Europe by the name "Alhazen."

There is no evidence that Leonardo read Alhazen's Book of Optics. However, the Book of Optics was widely circulated among Italian painters during the Renaissance. Professor Fiorani claims that it is highly probable that Leonardo also read the Book of Optics. She emphasizes that optics greatly influenced Leonardo's painting techniques. The subtitle of this book is "How Science Taught Leonardo How to Paint."