CA24143 - LEonardo's Codex Atlanticus and other miscellaneous Folios: A Digital Reconstruction (LEAF)

The Action LEonard’s Codex Atlanticus and other miscellaneous Folio: A Digital Reconstruction (LEAF) is dedicated to the digital reconstruction of Leonardo’s original folios, whose fragments are now dispersed across several major collections, including the Codex Atlanticus at the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, the Windsor Codices in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, and the Codex Arundel at the British Museum in London. Building on the groundbreaking research of Carlo Pedretti, this Action advances his methodologies, incorporating the latest investigative technologies. Pedretti’s work, started in the mid-20th century, successfully demonstrated the possibility of digitally reuniting separated pages by identifying connections in drawings or text sequences across folios. His reconstructions of over 90-page pairs, involving parent-child relationships between fragments and their original sheets, serve as the foundation for this endeavor, exploring an additional 92 unpublished reconstruction hypotheses.

The Action’s primary goal is to establish a comprehensive reference database of these digitally reconstructed folios, enabling a thematic and chronological recontextualization of Leonardo’s manuscripts. This facilitates a deeper understanding of his intellectual evolution, thematic explorations, and the interconnectedness of his diverse pursuits. By virtually restoring the original integrity of these pages, the project enhances scholarly knowledge of Leonardo’s creative processes and the broader contexts in which he worked. The initiative also involves organizing workshops, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and culminating in a public exhibition of the digitally reconstructed folios, offering new insights into Leonardo’s legacy and dispelling oversimplified interpretations of his genius.