The Royal Library in Turin. The works of Leonardo da Vinci. A short guide

Leonardo da Vinci’s genius outlined through the collection of the Royal Library in Turin: thirteen drawings, including the famous Self-portrait, and the Codex on the Flight of Birds. A set of works of exceptional value, documenting the activity and research of the great Master of the Italian Renaissance, from the beginning of his career in Florence to the Milanese studies on machines, anatomy, proportions and expressions of the human face, up to the dream of flying. A guide to look onto the world of a great artist who has turned knowledge and experimentation into his law of life.

The making of the collection

1. Portraits
Three views of manly head with beard
Head of a man in profile, crowned with laurel
Face of a young girl (study for the angel in the Virgin of the Rocks)
Self-portrait

2. The human machine
Studies on the proportions of the face and eye, with notes
Nudes for the Battle of Anghiari and other figure studies
Hercules with the Nemean Lion

3. The study of horses
Studies of the muscles of a horse’s forelegs
Studies of a horse’s forelegs
Studies of a horse’s hindlegs

4. War machines
Studies of chariots with scythes

5. A poem
Studies of the muscles of the lower limbs
Poetry and figure by the fire

6. The flight
Codex on the Flight of Birds
Studies of insects

Bibliographical references