scholarly journals The Babinski sign in Renaissance paintings—a reappraisal of the toe phenomenon in representations of the Christ Child: observational analysis

BMJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. m4556
Author(s):  
François Sellal ◽  
Laurent Tatu
Keyword(s):  
Da Vinci ◽  
Outcome Measure ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
Italian Renaissance ◽  
Large Collection ◽  
Babinski Sign ◽  
Observational Analysis ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Foot Sole Stimulation ◽  
Stimulation Of

Abstract Objective To investigate systematically the presence of the Babinski sign in paintings of the Christ Child by the greatest painters of the Renaissance. Design Observational analysis. Setting Large collection of paintings depicting the Christ Child from Flemish, Rhenish, and Italian schools between 1400 and 1550 CE, searched using published catalogues and Google. Study sample 302 Renaissance paintings (by 19 painters) depicting the Christ Child. Main outcome measure Babinski sign, defined as a hallux extension with an amplitude greater than 30°. The presence of foot sole stimulation was also noted. Results An unquestionable upgoing toe was apparent in 90 (30%) of the 302 paintings. The Babinski sign was present in more than 60% of Christ Child paintings by Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling, Martin Schongauer, and Matthias Grünewald. A bilateral Babinski sign was observed in three paintings. Stimulation of the sole was noted in 48/90 (53%) paintings and was always present in paintings by Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo da Vinci, and Giorgione. No association existed between the presence of the Babinski sign and the period during which the painter was active. Conclusions Four main factors were noted in relation to the representation of the Babinski sign in paintings of the Christ Child: the physiological toe phenomenon in infants, the representation of the nudity of the Christ by painters during the 15th century to demonstrate the incarnation, Renaissance painters’ need for precise observation of anatomy, and the desire of some Rhenish and Flemish painters to depict very realistic details. Italian Renaissance painters, whether Mannerist or not, tended to idealise the beauty of human body, and they often did not reproduce the Babinski sign.

Piero della Francesca

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Banker
Keyword(s):  
History Of Mathematics ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
Italian Renaissance ◽  
Michelangelo Buonarroti ◽  
Piero Della Francesca ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
Greek Geometry

The reputation of the Italian Renaissance painter and mathematician Piero della Francesca (hereafter Piero) has risen dramatically from near oblivion in the Early Modern period to the present when he is judged as nearly equal to Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti, especially in regard to technical excellence and writing. In his paintings and his treatises Piero achieved the fullest expression of Quattrocento perspective, which he had derived from his capacious understanding of Greek geometry. Born into a family of artisans-shopkeepers of leather in the Tuscan town of Borgo San Sepolcro (today Sansepolcro) c. 1412, Piero began with several small projects in his native town in the 1430s. He served in Florence as an assistant to Domenico Veneziano in 1439 where he came in contact with the achievements of Masaccio, Donatello, Brunelleschi, and other artists in Florence, though he never became strictly a Florentine painter. He sojourned throughout central Italy in the 1440s and 1450s, receiving commissions in Ferrara, Ancona, Rimini, Arezzo, Rome, and Sansepolcro. After his two sojourns in Rome in the 1450s, Piero became increasingly interested in the representation of classical values and especially Roman architecture and in learning Greek geometry. In the decade of the 1470s he was often in the court of Federico da Montefeltro in Urbino, accepting commissions from the ruler and consulting manuscripts in his library. In the history of mathematics, he is now recognized as an indispensable participant in the revival of Greek geometry and as one of the few individuals in 15th-century Europe with extensive knowledge of both Euclid and Archimedes. In the last three decades of his life (d. 1492) Piero wrote treatises on commercial mathematics and geometry (Trattato d’abaco), perspective in painting (De prospectiva pingendi), and a reflection on several classical procedures and problems in Greek geometry (Libellus de quinque corporibus regularibus), as well as copying the Opera of Archimedes.

scholarly journals 5 European & African Conference on Wind Engineering

2009 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Fluid Mechanics ◽  
Da Vinci ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
Wind Engineering ◽  
Human Being ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
The City

The 5th European-African Conference of Wind Engineering is hosted in Florence, Tuscany, the city and the region where, in the early 15th century, pioneers moved the first steps, laying down the foundation stones of Mechanics and Applied Sciences (including fluid mechanics). These origins are well reflected by the astonishing visionary and revolutionary studies of Leonardo Da Vinci, whose kaleidoscopic genius intended the human being to become able to fly even 500 years ago… This is why the Organising Committee has decided to pay tribute to such a Genius by choosing Leonardo's "flying sphere" as the brand of 5th EACWE.

scholarly journals The Digital Renaissance from da Vinci to Turing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tula Giannini ◽  
Jonathan P. Bowen
Keyword(s):  
Da Vinci ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
Italian Renaissance ◽  
Alan Turing ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Uk ◽  
London Conference

The Italian Renaissance started a rebirth of culture and knowledge not experienced since Roman times. Leonardo da Vinci was arguably the leading polymath of the era. We are now in the throes of a Digital Renaissance, arguably started by Alan Turing in England. This paper draws some parallels between these two periods and speculates on the future of digital developments, especially in the context of the EVA Florence conference in Italy and the EVA London conference in the UK.

scholarly journals L’Italia, l’arte e la poesia nel Fra Beato Andželiko di Nikolaj Gumilëv

2018 ◽  
pp. 251-258
Author(s):  
Giulia Baselica
Keyword(s):  
Da Vinci ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
Italian Renaissance

The lyric poem Fra Andželiko (1912) was inspired by the vivid impressions Nikolaj Gumilëv gained during his Italian tour in the very same year. The work should be seen in its context that acts as a background for the gumilevian perception of the artistic civilization of the Italian Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello, Benvenuto Cellini, Michelangelo are here awakened, described and matched to the eponymous character. This article aims to reconstruct the image of Italy, of Poetry and to depict the poet through the verses of the poem.

scholarly journals The flight of the shrike. The ornithological representation in the Baptism of Christ (1470-1475 c.) by Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-64
Author(s):  
Marco Masseti
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Da Vinci ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
Italian Renaissance ◽  
High Degree

The artists of the Italian Renaissance were keen observers of nature. Their works are often enriched with realistic details that inform us about the high degree of their scientific knowledge. In the particular case of the Baptism of Christ (1470-1475 c.) by Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci, the careful depiction of certain bird species, including a red-backed shrike and a redstart, reveals precise meanings closely related to Christological symbolism.

Chemical Analysis and Painted Colours: the Mystery of Leonardo's Sfumato

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Walter
Keyword(s):  
Da Vinci ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
Depth Information ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Painting Materials ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Fluorescence Measurements ◽  
Qualitative Determination

At the end of the 15th century, Italian painters explored the new effects made possible by the use of the oil medium. They created a sense of depth and relief by following the Flemish technique of glazes, which allowed the spreading of very thin and translucent layers, rich in medium and with low pigment content. A striking example is given by the realization of the shadows in the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci: the Master used the so-called ‘sfumato’ technique based on the use of glazes to obtain a ‘smoky’ aspect for the creation of flesh tones, with very subtle contours that seem to have no hard edges. Since the 16th century, his technique was famous due to the perfection of the works of art that glazes have allowed artists to reach. Analytical characterizations of painting materials have helped us to improve our knowledge about this technique. X-ray fluorescence measurements were carried out on seven paintings by Leonardo da Vinci preserved in the Louvre museum. This technique is widely used for qualitative determination of the pigments but it is very difficult to interpret the data quantitatively in the case of layered structures such as easel paintings. As well as the characterization of the palette, we obtain in-depth information on how Leonardo modelled his shadows. Comparisons between the different paintings of Leonardo highlight the specific features in the Leonardo technique.

scholarly journals New results with regard to the Flora bust controversy: radiocarbon dating suggests nineteenth century origin

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ina Reiche ◽  
Lucile Beck ◽  
Ingrid Caffy
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Da Vinci ◽  
Calibration Method ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
Italian Renaissance ◽  
Chemical Analyses ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Intense Debate

AbstractMany works of art have been attributed to Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), the great artist-scientist-engineer of the Italian Renaissance; however, art historians have struggled to find definitive proof to connect Leonardo to these art pieces. The Flora wax bust in the Bode Museum, Berlin, was attributed to Leonardo because her face resembles several Leonardo portraits, but this attribution has the subject of intense debate since the bust’s acquisition in 1909. Using new chemical analyses and absolute 14C dating, we are able to resolve the question of authenticity. We show that the Flora wax bust is made primarily of spermaceti which was extracted from sperm whales. Therefore, 14C dating must consider the Marine Reservoir Effect. We have generated a new calibration method and dated the bust to the 19th c. This proves that the bust was not produced during the Renaissance, and thus cannot be attributed to da Vinci, and illustrates that 14C dating can be applied to unusual materials.

Leonardo Da Vinci. The Apology of Eye

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4-2) ◽  
pp. 412-428
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Mayorova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Da Vinci ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
Italian Renaissance ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Renaissance Period ◽  
The One ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Mechanical Arts ◽  
Better Than

The article is devoted to Leonardo da Vinci’s “eye is less deceived than any other sense” maxima. Leonardo’s belief about painting being the most perfect instrument for one’s ontology and epistemology is shown. Based on Leonardo da Vinci’s “Treatise on Painting”, a compilation of Leonardo’s works, the author explores how visual arts (and painting in particular) had come up to the forefront of the Italian Renaissance. Moreover, it is shown how painting takes a leading cultural role in Europe even to this day following the Renaissance. The article reveals why Leonardo da Vinci viewed painting to be better than science, mechanical arts and other liberal arts. The article considers the possibility of transforming personal experience into the universal experience of mankind. It also considers the focus on experience, direct comprehension of reality and varietà concept. The article is dedicated to the peculiarity of Leonardo’s art style, including its unique sfumato technique and chiaroscuro. The article also deals with the idea of Leonardo being the personification of the Renaissance’s creativity. As a result, he was the one who encapsulated the Renaissance period and simultaneously laid the foundation for further development of the arts for several centuries.

Hieronymus Bosch

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurinda Dixon
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Da Vinci ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
General Sense ◽  
Modern City ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Hieronymus Bosch ◽  
Technical Examination ◽  
The Town

The art of Hieronymus Bosch has challenged and fascinated viewers since the 15th century. His hybrid creatures and creative monstrosities seem unprecedented in the art historical canon and therefore mysterious to 21st-century viewers. Adding to this general sense of bafflement is the fact that we know perhaps less about Bosch than any other artist of his era. Unlike his famous contemporaries, Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci, who documented their lives and works in copious letters and writings, Bosch left us nothing in his own words. His date of birth is unknown, and we cannot say if he ever left his birthplace, the town of ‘s-Hertogenbosh (the modern city of den Bosch, the Netherlands), from which he took his professional name. For the most part, the art itself is all that is left us, although ironically documentation does exist for several lost paintings. Today, only about twenty-five works are accepted as by Bosch’s hand, and his name appears on only seven of these. None shows a date. With the advent of sophisticated means of technical examination of panels, even these few are being disputed. No less important is the question of meaning in Bosch’s works, which were produced at a time when artists delighted in veiling content within layers of enigma and symbolism. As scholars continue to delve into the historical and artistic contexts from which Bosch evolved, the inscrutable painter emerges as a man of his time, conversant in the historical, intellectual, and religious controversies of his day. His works reflect a tumultuous era, different from, but no less complex than, our own.

Replication of Internal Biological Surfaces

1972 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 308-309
Author(s):  
J. A. Nowell ◽  
J. Pangborn ◽  
W. S. Tyler
Keyword(s):  
Da Vinci ◽  
Leonardo Da Vinci ◽  
Rat Lung ◽  
Tubular Structures ◽  
Cerebral Ventricles ◽  
Internal Surfaces ◽  
Biological Surfaces ◽  
Dog Kidney ◽  
Lung And Kidney ◽  
Scanning Electron

Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century, used injection replica techniques to study internal surfaces of the cerebral ventricles. Developments in replicating media have made it possible for modern morphologists to examine injection replicas of lung and kidney with the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Deeply concave surfaces and interrelationships to tubular structures are difficult to examine with the SEM. Injection replicas convert concavities to convexities and tubes to rods, overcoming these difficulties.Batson's plastic was injected into the renal artery of a horse kidney. Latex was injected into the pulmonary artery and cementex in the trachea of a cat. Following polymerization the tissues were removed by digestion in concentrated HCl. Slices of dog kidney were aldehyde fixed by immersion. Rat lung was aldehyde fixed by perfusion via the trachea at 30 cm H2O. Pieces of tissue 10 x 10 x 2 mm were critical point dried using CO2. Selected areas of replicas and tissues were coated with silver and gold and examined with the SEM.

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