Flights of Mind

"The manuscripts are a map of Leonardo's mind. They contain everything from the briefest half-sentence or squiggled calculation to fully worked-out scientific treatises and literary exercises. Their subject matter ranges from anatomy to zoology... The great lesson of the manuscripts is that everything is to be questioned, investigated, peered into, worried away at, brought back to first principles." (Nicholl, 7)

 

 

What I got from Flights of the Mind, were essentially theories and insights into discovering the real Leonardo. By exploring signature works he attempts to encode both his lifestyle and attitude. Nicholl does not channel his energies into overt psychological analysis (leaving that to Freud- which I find terribly interesting and what I briefly tip toed into in my previous blog) or an over-interpretation of his works of art. Instead he painstakingly reads and attempts to decode every written word in Leonardo's journals. He attempts to illustrate who Leonardo was- as a real person, as compared to the "almighty" image that he carries with him today. Decoding "mental events," jokes, doodles, snatches of poetry, drafts and letters, household accounts, recipes, shopping lists, bank statements, names and addresses of modes, etc... (Nicholl, 4)

Leonardo was essentially abandoned by his father, withheld from his mother, and raised by an artistic master, who we assume, resigned himself to painting as a result of his apprentices innate artistic abilities (Nicholl, 20). I guess what I find so interesting about all of this is how Leonardo's life formed him into the brilliant mind that he became. It was the workings of that mind that made him such an important presence in the renaissance and still today. What would we have of his mind if it weren't for his notebooks?  I am an art student. Every year my instructors press the importance of writing in a journal- everyday. Writing, drawing, collecting, thinking on paper, anything... How we can learn so much from ourselves about ourselves by simply reliving these seemingly meaningless moments in time. How even the most simple fluctuation in handwriting can tell us so much about ourselves.
 

What I feel the intent of this book is to aid in finding the answer as to why an artist with so many unfinished pieces can retain such a eminence amongst the ranks the great "masters" of the world- and find himself at the top of a list of the greatest artists of all time. Is there really need to find the answer? Maybe there is no reason. Maybe he is so intriguing to us simply for the fact that he was most certainly a man ahead of his time and we feel we are missing out on what he never got down on paper. A man with too many ideas for his mind to contain. His notebooks were an extension of himself, the drawing board for growth, invention, and a new perspective to life, both his own and mankind's. Today, we study his mind through his scribbles, his jokes, his recipes, and the simple fluctuations of his hand. Would we still regard him as one of the greatest if he had never written anything down? Would we be so interested in him if he had given us everything- all the answers and nothing to search for?



Also- to whoever checked the reserve book out on Thursday and did not turn it in on time- It would be great if you would share it next time. I am giving up after waiting for it for three hours past due- and still counting... I did the best I could with the Amazon.com free preview of the book. Unfortunately lots of material was omitted. I did the best I could with what I could.