"Trovo modo da offendere e difendere": la concezione della guerra nel pensiero politico di Leonardo.

International audiencethe text of a conference given on the occasion of the International Symposium "Leonardo da Vinci: arte della pace, arte della guerra" (Florence, Palagio di Parte Guelfa, December 5th, 2013)

L’arte militare, tra virtù e bestialità. La concezione della guerra e la figura del guerriero nell’opera di Leonardo da Vinci

Le but de cette contribution est d’illustrer la conception de la guerre dans la pensée de Léonard de Vinci, à partir de ses écrits présentant une valeur philosophique (soit anthropologique, soit plus spécifiquement politique), à comparer avec ses créations figuratives (non seulement celles proprement artistiques mais aussi les dessins et projets liés au domaine de l’art militaire). Léonard s’est intéressé à la figure du guerrier et à sa représentation iconographique, selon une vision qui oscille entre deux extrémités conceptuelles : l’homme vertueux et la bête indomptée, le chevalier doué d’un appareil de qualités héraldiques, morales et techniques (champion de l’art de la guerre entendue comme discipline humanistique) et l’homme réduit à sa condition primordiale d’animal instinctif et colérique.The aim of this paper is to illustrate the conception of war in Leonardo da Vinci’s thought, on the basis of those writings of his endowed with a philosophical value (in both anthropological and political terms), to be compared with his figurative works (not only the properly artistic ones but also those referring to the field of the military arts). Leonardo’s interpretation of the figure of the warrior and its iconographic representation wavers between two conceptual extremes: the virtuous man and the wild beast, the knight displaying a heraldic apparatus of moral and technical qualities (champion of the art of war in the sense of a humanistic discipline) and the man reduced to the primitive condition of instinctive and irascible animal

1482: Leonardo in transito, da Firenze a Milano

This contribution is aimed at summarizing the historical circumstances of Leonardo’s trip from Florence to Milan in 1482, by examining, in particular, their political implications and consequences. In the context of a network of personal relations – still Florentine in their origin and Medicean as for their social background – his arrival at the Sforza court seems the result of the subtle direction of Lorenzo the Magnificent, in the broader frame of the latter’s diplomatic and cultural exchanges with Ludovico the Moor, at the time of their mutual involvement in the war of Ferrara (1481-1484).   Il contributo si propone di ricapitolare le circostanze storiche del “transito” di Leonardo da Firenze a Milano nel 1482, esaminandone in particolare le implicazioni e ripercussioni politiche. In una rete di relazioni ancora fiorentine e di estrazione medicea, il suo arrivo alla corte sforzesca appare il risultato della sottile regia di Lorenzo il Magnifico, nella più ampia cornice degli scambi diplomatici e culturali di quest’ultimo con Ludovico il Moro, nel frangente del loro comune coinvolgimento nella guerra di Ferrara (1481-1484)

Efficacia retorica e politica delle metafore animalistiche nella predicazione di Savonarola. Il caso della Crocifissione mistica di Botticelli

L’obiettivo del presente contributo è di interpretare un corpus di sermoni pronunciati da Savonarola a Firenze a più riprese, principalmente nel periodo tra il 1495 e il 1497. Il filo conduttore è rappresentato dalle metafore animalistiche dietro le quali il frate cela i principali attori della contemporanea ribalta politica fiorentina: dai «cani stizziti» come simbolo della fazione degli «arrabbiati» (i cattivi cittadini, vale a dire gli ottimati avversi all’oligarchia medicea) alla stessa cittadinanza fiorentina figurata come preda in guisa di lepre (secondo sermone del ciclo sui Salmi, 11 gennaio 1495), sino alla metafora della Chiesa come leonessa che accudisce i propri cuccioli (nei quali sono adombrati preti e prelati corrotti), tra i quali per istigazione dei cattivi cittadini potrebbe essere elevato a tiranno un «leoncello leone» (sermone XL del ciclo su Ezechiele, 12 marzo 1497). La parte finale del contributo è dedicata a un’analisi iconografica della Crocifissione mistica di Botticelli (Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum), dipinta tra il 1498 e il 1500 o subito dopo, sotto la viva influenza della predicazione savonaroliana, con speciale riguardo alla presenza di figure animali: il piccolo leone fustigato dall’angelo e il canide (un cane rabbioso o un lupo rapace) che sguscia dal manto della Maddalena penitente.Cette contribution vise à interpréter une série de sermons prêchés par Savonarole à Florence, à plusieurs reprises, notamment entre 1495 et 1497. Le fil rouge du discours sera représenté par les images d’animaux derrière lesquelles le frère a caché des acteurs fondamentaux du scénario politique florentin à la fin du xve siècle : les « cani stizziti » (« chiens irrités ») qui symbolisent la faction des « arrabbiati » (les colériques, appelés aussi « cattivi », « mauvais », c’est-à-dire les « ottimati » opposés aux oligarques fidèles aux Médicis ; les citoyens florentins figurés en tant que proie sous la forme d’un « lièvre » dans le deuxième sermon du cycle sur les Psaumes prononcé le 11 janvier 1495 ; enfin la métaphore de l’Église-lionne, « leonessa », qui prend soin de ses propres lionceaux, « leoncelli » — qui représentent les prêtres et les prélats corrompus. Parmi ceux-ci, un « leoncello leone » (« jeune lion ») pourrait prendre la place du tyran à l’instigation des « cattivi » (sermon XL du cycle sur Ézéchiel, 12 mars 1497). La partie finale est consacrée à la lecture iconographique de la Crucifixion mystique peinte par Botticelli pendant les années 1498-1500 (aujourd’hui au Fogg Art Museum de Cambridge, Massachusetts), dont la signification est inspirée par la prédication de Savonarole, à travers la présence d’animaux symboliques : le lion, bien sûr, mais aussi le loup de la métaphore évangélique (Matthieu, 7:15), reprise par Savonarole dès 1493 pour évoquer la corruption cléricale.The present contribution aims to interpret a series of sermons pronounced by Savonarola in Florence on several occasions, mainly between 1495 and 1497. The common denominator is represented by the animal images behind which the friar hides the pivotal actors of the contemporary political limelight in late 15th century Florence: from the “cani stizziti” (rabid dogs) as symbols of the faction of the “arrabbiati” (the angry and irascible citizens, i.e. the optimates averse to the Medicean oligarchy) to the Florentine community figured like a hunting prey in the guise of a hare (second sermon of the cycle on the Psalms, 11 January 1495), until the metaphor of the Church as a lioness, with her puppies (“leoncelli”) overshadowing the corrupted priests and prelates, among which a “leoncello leone” would be taken as a new tyrant, because of the bad citizens’ instigation (sermon XL of the cycle on Ezekiel, 12 March 1497). The final part of the paper is devoted to an iconographic analysis of Botticelli’s Mystical Crucifixion (Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum), painted around 1498–1500 or shortly later, under the decisive influence of Savonarola’s preaching, with particular reference to the animal figures present in it: the lion scourged by the angel and the canid (a rabid dog or vicious wolf) emerging from the penitent Magdalene’s drapery

La "scopetta", gli "occhiali" e la "cadrega" di fuoco: immagini sforzesche della prudenza nelle allegorie politiche di Leonardo

International audienceThis paper illustrates a specific episode of intersection between Renaissance politics and the arts: Leonardo da Vinci’s engagement with Ludovico the Moor and the Sforza court in Milan, at the end of the 15th century. The artist created for his patron a lot of emblems and allegories, intended to support his controversial political conduct, especially before the formal acquisition of the ducal title. In fact, until his nephew’s death (1494), Ludovico officially acted as a factual governor in Gian Galeazzo Sforza’s name, even if his actual authority resulted undisputable to everyone. Consequently, an attentive texture of political dissimulation was predisposed by him, while arranging his own succeeding to the nephew. A propagandistic recourse to the conceptual category of prudence was therefore fundamental: in its double significance (both of prevision capability and of preservation/maintenance), this virtue was perfectly suitable to mark Ludovico’s actions as a tutor of Galeazzo (and of his state, too), especially on the basis of a symbolic association between his nickname (the Moor) and the mulberry tree, whose prudential attitude in budding had been recognized since Pliny the Elder. In his several projects for emblematic representations (as documented by drawings and writings), Leonardo used, together with the mulberry branches, Ludovico’s other heraldic attributes (as the little brush for dresses, a metaphor of his aim to clean Italy from the foreigners), in combination with specific images of prudence: so, the spectacles in a drawing at Bayonne, where Ludovico is presented as an Egyptian Pharaoh, appear as a foresight amplification

"Una cosa da nulla, come vedi": il Leonardo di Gramsci

International audienceAn extended version of the article published in "Critica Marxista" (2010), with full updated bibliography. The conference was held at University of Napoli "L'Orientale" (December 4-5, 2008), under the patronage of Fondazione Istituto Gramsci (Roma) and AISDP - Associazione Italiana degli Storici delle Dottrine Politiche (Torino)

Leonardo, la politica e le allegorie

International audienceCatalogue of the exhibition (Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, june-september 2010

Improved cardiovascular diagnostic accuracy by pocket size imaging device in non-cardiologic outpatients: the NaUSiCa (Naples Ultrasound Stethoscope in Cardiology) study

Miniaturization has evolved in the creation of a pocket-size imaging device which can be utilized as an ultrasound stethoscope. This study assessed the additional diagnostic power of pocket size device by both experts operators and trainees in comparison with physical examination and its appropriateness of use in comparison with standard echo machine in a non-cardiologic population

I diluvi e le profezie. Disegni di Leonardo dal Codice Atlantico.

International audienceCatalogo della mostra (Milano, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, dicembre 2012 - marzo 2013