“This great genius, who preceded Chancellor Bacon in the true method of philosophising near a century”. Translation and reception of the Essai sur Leonardo da Vinci by Giovanni Battista Venturi (1798-1802)

Abstract

In 1797, Venturi studied Leonardo’s codices, brought by the French to Paris, and published his Essai sur les ouvrages physico-mathématiques de Léonard de Vinci. The pamphlet corresponded to the short lecture given by the author at the Institut de France on 25 April 1797 and, for the first time, it highlighted Leonardo’s original texts, and commented on their scientific aspects. This is the reason for the considerable stir that Venturi’s work immediately had. This article examines the English reception of Venturi’s essay, represented by the translation of chemist William Nicholson (1798) and by the use of material collected by Venturi in John Sidney Hawkins’ biography of Leonardo, which was included in the new English translation of the Treatise on painting (1802).