Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was an Italian Renaissance architect, musician, inventor, engineer, sculptor, and painter. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived. The V&A has five of Leonardo's notebooks in its collections. Known as the Forster Codices, the notebooks were owned by John Forster and bequeathed by him to the V&A in 1876.
Leonardo da Vinci's Notebooks
Leonardo da Vinci seems to have begun recording his thoughts in notebooks from the mid-1480s. The notebooks were included in Leonardo's bequest to his assistant Francesco M…
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Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, Design
The V&A has in its collections five of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks. They reveal how he thought on paper and contain some of his most complex and challenging designs.
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The Forster Codices: Leonardo da Vinci's Notebooks at the V&A
The Forster Codices contain five of Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks. They were part of the library of John Forster (1812–76), and bequeathed to the Museum on his death as a g…
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Explore the Forster Codices
Explore five of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks with our interactive page-turner. Flip the pages to view the mirror writing the 'right' way round and read historical notes an…
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Leonardo da Vinci: Animated illustration
This animation from the Forster codices shows how Leonardo da Vinci composed illustrations of a dodecahedron: a solid composed of twelve pentagons – in other words, twelve …
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Leonardo da Vinci Reading List
A selection of recommended books on the subject of Leonardo da Vinci
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A gift in your will
You may not have thought of including a gift to a museum in your will, but the V&A is a charity and legacies form an important source of funding for our work. It is not just the great collectors and the wealthy who leave legacies to the V&A. Legacies of all sizes, large and small, make a real difference to what we can do and your support can help ensure that future generations enjoy the V&A as much as you have.
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