James Lucas Profile picture
Mar 28, 2024 31 tweets 10 min read Read on X
Leonardo da Vinci's drawings - a thread 🧵

1. Vitruvian Man Image
2. Study of an Angel

The soul of this young girl seems almost visible in her eyes.

Even if da Vinci only produced about 20 paintings in his lifetime, we have over 13,000 pages of his notes and drawings. Image
3. Fetus in the Womb

More than 500 years ago, Leonardo correctly depicted the human fetus in its proper position inside a dissected uterus. Image
4. Anatomical Studies of the Shoulder

Leonardo dissected more than 30 bodies of both genders and all ages in his lifetime, leaving behind many stunning - and incredibly accurate - anatomical drawings. Image
5. Anatomical Studies

His sketches were so precise that many are still used to illustrate medical textbooks.

Image
Image
Image
6. Head of a Young Woman (La Scapigliata) Image
7. Profile of an Old Man Image
8. Studies of Crabs Image
9. Study of a Child Image
10. Study of Horses Image
11. Study of Hands Image
12. Ornithopter

Leonardo studied the flight of birds for years, and then he famously made designs for his "ornithopter", a flying machine.

Image
Image
Image
13. Helicopter

In the late 1480s, he even drew his design for an "aerial screw", a flying machine which is incredibly similar to a modern helicopter. Image
14. Dragon Striking Down Lion Image
15. The Skull

This iconic drawing is universally admired for its accuracy and proportion. Image
16. Leonardo's self-propelled cart, considered the ancestor of the modern automobile. Image
17. Study of Five Grotesque Heads Image
18. Study of the graduations of light and shade on a sphere (chiaroscuro). Image
19. The organs of a woman's body Image
20. Comparison of the leg of a man and a dog Image
21. Walking on water

A peculiar method of walking on water using skis made of cork and paddle-like poles. Image
22. Landscape drawing for Santa Maria Della Neve & botanical drawings

"The painter’s mind is a copy of the divine mind, since it operates freely in creating the many kinds of animals, plants, fruits, landscapes, countrysides, ruins, and awe-inspiring places."

Image
Image
Image
23. Cat drawings Image
24. Leonardo also produced several extremely accurate maps, such as the town plan of Imola. Image
25. Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk

This iconic drawing is widely regarded as a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci at the age of 60. Image
26. Studies of Water Passing Obstacles Image
27. Female Head Image
28. Study for the Last Supper

Before painting his timeless masterpiece, Leonardo drew a few preparatory sketches that depict many different variations of the apostles' poses and gestures. Image
29. Heads of an old man and a youth Image
30. Muscles of the Torso and Back

These drawings give a clear picture of how the musculature lies over the ribcage and around the abdomen. In the notes, Leonardo also indicates exactly how the muscles are connected to the skeleton and to each other. Image
If you enjoyed this thread, you can follow me for more content (@JamesLucasIT) and share the first post, so that others can see it as well 👇🏻

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with James Lucas

James Lucas Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @JamesLucasIT

Jul 17
What we do in life, echoes in eternity.

15 architectural marvels that have withstood the test of time - a thread 🧵

1. The Colosseum, Rome

2. The Pyramids of Egypt

Built from stones weighing 2.5 to 70 tons each, the Great Pyramid remained the tallest man-made structure for thousands of years.

Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it is the oldest and the only one still standing.

3. Pantheon, Rome

With a 43.30 meters (142 ft.) internal diameter, the Pantheon is still the largest unreinforced solid concrete dome ever built.

It is also widely regarded as the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings.

Read 15 tweets
Jul 16
Beautiful things from the past - a thread🧵

1. Axe with heart-shaped holes, Japan, 1300s Image
2. Art Nouveau door handle, 1905

As William Morris once said during a lecture in 1880:

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." Image
3. Art Deco peacock doors in Chicago, 1925 Image
Read 15 tweets
Jul 14
The genius of the ancient Greeks 🧵

1. Carl Sagan explains how Eratosthenes knew the Earth was round and calculated its circumference over 2,000 years ago.
2. The Antikythera Mechanism, history's first analogue computer.

It could calculate the positions of the sun, moon, and planets, and even predict eclipses.

Experts are puzzled by how such advanced knowledge existed so early and then seemed to vanish for over a thousand years. Image
3. The first vending machine was invented over two thousand years ago by the Greek engineer Heron of Alexandria.

It dispensed holy water when a coin was inserted into a slot, triggering a simple mechanical system.

Read 15 tweets
Jul 13
The beauty of nature’s perfection 🧵

1. This is what happens when a bubble freezes
2. Sunflowers consist of hundreds of tiny flowers arranged in nearly perfect symmetry Image
3. The mandarin duck

This stunning bird was described in 1727 by the German explorer Engelbert Kaempfer: "It is so great, that being shew'd its picture in colours, I could hardly believe my own eyes."

Read 16 tweets
Jul 12
15 villages that seem too beautiful to exist

A thread🧵

1. Imerovigli, Santorini

2. This is a real place...

Gásadalur is a small village located on the west side of Vágar in the Faroe Islands.

Its population peaked at 23 in 2010 but had dropped to just 11 by 2020.

3. Giethoorn, the Dutch Venice

Read 18 tweets
Jul 11
15 streets that don’t look real 🧵

1. Hanoi Train Street, Vietnam

2. Lomanstraat, Amsterdam

This street is framed by a unique archway of leaning London plane trees that create a tunnel-like shape.

It feels like something out of a dream. Image
3. Setenil de las Bodegas, Spain

Calle Cuevas del Sol, translating to "Caves of the Sun," is the town’s main street and runs under a massive overhanging rock.

Read 17 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(