Читать книгу Magic Shadows. The Story of the Origin of Motion Pictures онлайн

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Though Alberti died when Leonardo da Vinci was a young man, it is certain that Leonardo knew of him, as they were natives of the same city. Perhaps da Vinci had even attended some of Alberti’s magic shadows exhibitions.

Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci was born near Florence in 1452 and died near Amboise, France, in 1519. In 1939, 420 years after his death, a great exhibition of the master’s works was held at Milan and parts of it were shown in the next year at the Museum of Science and Industry in Rockefeller Center, New York. The Milan exhibit included works in the following fields: studies and drawings in mathematics, astronomy, geology, geodesy, cosmography, map-making, hydraulics, botany, anatomy, optics (including proof of Alhazen’s problem of measuring the angle of reflection of light), acoustics, mechanics, and flying; not to mention sculpture, painting, drawing, sketches, architecture, town planning and military arts and sciences.

Da Vinci is best known today for his paintings, such as the renowned “Last Supper”, beloved everywhere, and the “Mona Lisa”. He was one of the truly universal geniuses. There was little indeed that he could not do.