Ambrosiana

LEONARDO DA VINCI AND GUIDO DA VIGEVANO
ANATOMY IN FIGURES

The exhibition compares the method of graphical representation of two geniuses of the past, through the reproduction of the masterpiece by Guido da Vigevano Anathomia designata per figuras (1345) and Leonardo da Vinci’s revolutionary anatomical visualization by means of a selection from his numerous anatomical drawings.

Five sculptures were drawn with the traditional wax technique from Leonardo’s anatomical drawings. The exhibition is completed by the wooden model of Guido’s wind-propelled cart, designed as a war machine but which can also be considered the first auto-mobile in history.

The exhibition, curated by Paola Salvi, made possible by the city of Vigevano (owner of the exhibition itself), with the patronage of the Lombardy Region, the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan, the University of Pavia, supported by the National Committee for the celebrations 500 years since Leonardo da Vinci’s death and organized with the OverArt Association, closes the program of exhibitions proposed by the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana to enhance its heritage of Leonardo’s works, among the most important in the world.
It presents the reproduction of the 18 figures (in 16 plates) of the Anothomia treatise designated for figuras (1345) by Guido da Vigevano, alongside a series of reproductions of anatomical drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, made between 1480 and 1517 approximately. From some of these drawings, which belong to Leonardo’s vast anatomical repertoire, preserved in the collections of Queen Elizabeth II of England in Windsor Castle, five sculptures have been obtained, conceived by Paola Salvi and made by Moreno Vezzoli, with the traditional technique of waxwork.

“We wanted to focus on artistic beauty – says Paola Salvi – since Leonardo practiced the dissection to know the inside of the human body, presumably with the assistance of a “surgeon”, as was customary at the time, but with the intent to overcome it by bringing the knowledge acquired back to the life of the body in action”.
“His drawings – continues Paola Salvi – follow the anatomical fidelity of the living body, exceed in graphic refinement every “macabre” aspect and testify not only to the reality of the anatomical representation, but also the theories of his time, the same theories that Leonardo visualizes where experience does not allow him to verify and possibly refuse them”.
The exhibition itinerary is enhanced, thanks to the collaboration with Carlo E. Rottenbacher, professor of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Information Researcher at the Department of Structural Mechanics of the University of Pavia, with the reconstruction in scale of Guido da Vigevano’s “wind-propelled cart”, a wooden model deriving from the drawing reatured in the Texaurus Regis Francie (1335), a manuscript which presents remarkable mechanical and visualization solutions for its time.

<p>On the: Guido da Vigevano, Drawinng of the wind-propelled cart from <em>Texaurus regis Francie acquisitionis terre sancte de ultramare, nec non sanitas corporis eius et vita ipsius prolungationis ac etiam cum custodia propter venenum</em>, c. 1375, Yale nel Center for British Arts; on the right: the model of the wind-propelled cart by Guido da Vigevano designed by Carlo Rottenbacher.</p>

On the: Guido da Vigevano, Drawinng of the wind-propelled cart from Texaurus regis Francie acquisitionis terre sancte de ultramare, nec non sanitas corporis eius et vita ipsius prolungationis ac etiam cum custodia propter venenum, c. 1375, Yale nel Center for British Arts; on the right: the model of the wind-propelled cart by Guido da Vigevano designed by Carlo Rottenbacher.

The analogy between Guido and Leonardo da Vinci, often proposed on the grounds of similar “genius”, has a deeper and greater substantial motivation than being merely the admiration for men capable of mastering dissimilar branches of knowledge and practices, for example anatomy and engineering, disciplines which our own culture, essentially and necessarily specialist, considers as being widely different.
The exhibition continues ideally in the Sala Federiciana of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana where the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci and his legacy is on show until March 1: the artists and techniques, curated by Benedetta Spadaccini, which presents some original Leonardo drawings of the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, including anatomical studies of legs and the famous presentation letter to Ludovico il Moro, that are linked to the anatomy and the design of war machines.

<p>Ceroplastica, busto con braccio alzato; ideazione Paola Salvi, realizzazione Moreno Vezzoli</p>

Ceroplastica, busto con braccio alzato; ideazione Paola Salvi, realizzazione Moreno Vezzoli

WHAT’S ON

JUBILEE 2025 – XVII CENTENARY OF THE COUNCIL OF NICAEA

Pinacoteca

ONLINE COLLECTION

(158 online artworks)

Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 33 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Male portrait, Hans Muelich (1516-1573)
Octagonal casket, Bottega degli Embriachi (XIV-XV secolo)
Napoleon Bonaparte’s gloves, NA
The Madonna Enthroned with Saint Ambrose and Saint Michael, Bartolomeo Suardi detto il Bramantino (1465-1530)
The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, Antonio Badile (1518-1560)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 149 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
The Madonna of the Pavilion, Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi detto) (1444 o 1445-1510)
Orrery, Sconosciuto
Mary Magdalene Penitent, Guido Reni (1575-1642)
Moses and the Brazen Serpent, Cesare Ligari (1716-1770)
The Adoration of the Magi, Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli also known as Morazzone (1571-1626)
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Jan II Brueghel il Giovane (1601-1678)
Display case with the hair of Lucrezia Borgia, Alfredo Ravasco
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 272 verso, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Susanna at her Bath, Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (1609-1661)
Portrait of a Musician, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 845 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 909 verso, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 455 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Portrait of Giuseppina Negroni Prati Morosini, Francesco Hayez (1791-1882)
Maternity, Mosè Bianchi (1840-1904)
Allegory of Water, Jan Brueghel il Vecchio “Dei Velluti” (1568-1625)
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Pietro Antonio Magatti (1691-1767)
Armillary sphere, NA
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 139 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
View of the Interior of the Duomo, Giovanni Migliara (1785-1837)
The Blessed Soul, Anonimo lombardo (XVII secolo)
Original Sin, Jan II Brueghel il Giovane (1601-1678)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 26 verso, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Codice Atlantico (Codex Atlanticus), f. 104 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Mouse with Roses, Jan Brueghel il Vecchio “Dei Velluti” (1568-1625)
Landscape with Saint John the Baptist, Paul Bril (1554-1626)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 873 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Winter Landscape with Skaters, Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634)
The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Ambito di Francesco Albani (1578-1660)
Adoration of the Magi, Tiziano Vecellio (1480-1576)
Portrait of a Lady, Giovanni Ambrogio De Predis (1455-1508)
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Giandomenico Tiepolo (1727-1804)
Christ Crowned with Thorns, Bernardino Luini (1480-1532)
The Magdalen and the Angel, Giulio Cesare Procaccini (1574-1625)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 860 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Head of Christ the Redeemer, Gian Giacomo Caprotti detto Salai (1480-1524)
The Damned Soul, Anonimo lombardo (XVII secolo)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus) f. 851 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Portrait of Bernardino da Lesmo, Bartolomeo Veneto (1502-1530)
Jael and Sisera, Giuseppe Vermiglio (1585-1635)
The School of Athens, Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520)
Portrait of Saint Charles Borromeo, Giovanni Ambrogio Figino (1548-1608)
The Madonna and Child with Saint John the Evangelist and Saint John the Baptist, Marco d’Oggiono (1470-1525)
The Martyrdom of Saint Peter of Verona, Alessandro Bonvicino detto Moretto (1490-1554)
Sacra Conversazione, Ambrogio da Fossano detto il Bergognone (1453-1523)
Horse’s head (Copy from the equestrian monument to Marcus Aurelius on the Capitol in Rome), NA
Allegorical Female Figure, Giovanni Serodine (1600-1631)
The Ambrosian Virgil of Francesco Petrarca, NA
Pietà (copy from Michelangelo), Leone Leoni
The Adoration of the Magi, Andrea Schiavone (1510-1563)
Flowers in a Vase, Jan Brueghel il Vecchio “Dei Velluti” (1568-1625)
Portrait of a Young Girl with a Dove, Natale Schiavoni (1777-1858)
Codice Atlantico (Codex Atlanticus), f. 1 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist, Ubertini Francesco detto Bachiacca (1494-1557)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 145 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Portrait of a Pilgrim, Monogrammista HL (XVI secolo)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 1069 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Naturalis Historia, Plinio il Vecchio (23-79 dC)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 663 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
llias picta, NA
Daggers with sheath (eared sfondagiaco dagger), Milanese Gunsmiths
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 29 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Seascape, Paul Bril (1554-1626)
The Holy Family with Sain John, Tobias and the Archangel Raphael, Bonifacio Veronese (1487-1553)
The Annunciation, Gerolamo Mazzola Bedoli (1500-1569)
Portrait of a Gentleman (Michel de l’Hospital), Giovan Battista Moroni (1520-1578)
The Arco della Pace in Milan, Giovanni Migliara (1785-1837)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 858 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 21 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Laocoon (copy of the Vatican original), Leone Leoni
The Adoration of the Magi, Maestro del Santo Sangue (XVI secolo)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 1006 verso, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
The infant Jesus with a Lamb, Bernardino Luini (1480-1532)
Ceremonial saddle and stirrups. Detail of the wooden horse of Troy, Arte armaiola milanese
Flowers and Roses, Gaetano Previati (1852-1920)
The Virgin of the Rocks, Andrea Bianchi detto il Vespino (attivo 1612-1640)
Portrait of Paolo Morigia, Fede Galizia (1578-1630)
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Jacopo da Ponte detto il Bassano (1510-1592)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 5 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Allegory of Fire, Jan Brueghel il Vecchio “Dei Velluti” (1568-1625)
Vase of Flowers with Jewel, Coins and Shells, Jan Brueghel il Vecchio “Dei Velluti” (1568-1625)
Plato, Giovanni Antonio Piatti (1447-1480)
The Holy Family, Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (1609-1661)
Libro d’Ore Borromeo, Cristoforo de Predis (1440-1486)
Kids and Lambs, Francesco Londonio (1723-1783)
Portrait of Napoleon King of Italy, Andrea Appiani (1754-1817)
Portrait of a Young Man, Vittore Ghislandi detto Frà Galgario (1655-1743)
Lesenes and trophies, Agostino Busti detto il Bambaia (1483-1548)
Portrait of a Young Man, Giorgione (Giorgio da Castelfranco copia da) (1478 circa-1510)
Portrait of Giovanni Battista Morosini, Francesco Hayez (1791-1882)
A Soul in Purgatory, Anonimo lombardo (XVII secolo)
Dantesque window, Giuseppe Bertini (1825-1898)
The Placing of Christ in the Sepulchre, Tiziano Vecellio (1480-1576)
Portrait of Peter Leopold of Habsburg-Lorraine (later Leopold II), Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779)
The Kiss, Francesco Hayez (1791-1882)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 49 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Nautilus shell, Sconosciuto
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 812 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
The Madonna and Child with a Worshipper, Bernardino Betti detto il Pinturicchio (1454-1513)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 12 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 117 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Diana the Huntress, Joachim Friess (XVI-XVII secolo)
Mercury and Argus, Anonimo genovese (XVII secolo)
Portrait of Emilia Morosini Zeltner, Francesco Hayez (1791-1882)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus) f. 710 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
The Madonna and Child with Saint Peter and Saint Jerome, Cesare Magni (1511-1534)
Self Portrait, Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844)
The Adoration with Saint Roch, Gian Pietro Rizzoli detto Giampietrino (1508-1549)
The Last Supper, Andrea Bianchi detto il Vespino (attivo 1612-1640)
The Assumption of the Virgin, Giovanni Agostino da Lodi (1467-1524 circa)
Still Life with Fruit, Isaac Soreau (1604-1638)
Figured casket, Scultore lombardo
Washerwomen at the Canal, Emilio Gola (1851-1923)
The Dormition of the Virgin, Anonimo ferrarese (XV secolo)
The Triumph of David, Lucas Hugenszoon detto Luca di Leida (1494-1533)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 719 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 4 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Self Portrait, Antonio Canova (1757-1822)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 1058 verso, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 116 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Burse, Artista dell’Italia centrale
Apse of San Satiro and View of the Duomo, Giovanni Migliara (1785-1837)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 844 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Christ Resurrected, Marco Basaiti (1470-1530)
Saint John the Baptist, Gian Giacomo Caprotti
Man in Armour, Tiziano Vecellio (1480-1576)
The Holy Family with Saints Anne and John, Bernardino Luini (1480-1532)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 71 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Crib, Federico Barocci o Baroccio detto il Fiori (1535-1612) (replica di)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 307 verso, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Portrait of Manfredo Settala, Daniele Crespi (1600-1630) attribuito a
Christ on the Way to Calvary, Giovanni Busi detto Cariani (1480-1547)
The Madonna Nursing the Child by the Fountain, Bernaert van Orley (1488-1541)
Noctes Atticae, Aulo Gellio
Latin astrolabe, Anonymous
Cup with Turbo marmoratus shell, Christoph Lencker (1556 circa-1613)
Still Life with Fruit, Isaac Soreau (1604-1638)
Clock with astrolabe, Sconosciuto
The Adoration, Bartolomeo Suardi detto il Bramantino (1465-1530)
Judith and Holofernes, Giuseppe Vermiglio (1585-1635)
Basket of fruit, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610)
Locked out of school, Emilio Longoni (1859-1932)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 72 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Still Life with Musical Instruments, Evaristo Baschenis (1617-1677)
Portico in Ruins, Giovanni Migliara (1785-1837)
De divina proportione, Luca Pacioli (1445 circa – 1517)
Saint Michael the Archangel, Giulio Cesare Procaccini (1574-1625)
Mary Magdalene, Tiziano Vecellio (1480-1576)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus) f. 199 verso, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Portrait of Alessandro Negroni Prati Morosini, Francesco Hayez (1791-1882)
Atlantic Codex (Codex Atlanticus), f. 3 recto, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)