The drawing of a left hand by Leonardo da Vinci (or his follower)

The drawing of a left hand of Thomas

The two hands in the Last Supper by HIkaru

 

 

I've recently come across the image of what appears to be the drawing of a left hand done by Leonardo da Vinci or by his follower. I did not need to ask myself the questions such as : "Who's hand is this?" or "For what purpose did Leonardo (or his follower) draw this hand?"  It was obvious to me that this hand 'belonged' to Thomas in "The Last Supper" by Leonardo. 
Although the restoration work of "The Last Supper" was criticized by some of the art critics and the art historians, I applaud the painstaking 22 year effort of Dr. Pinin Brambilla Barcilon.  One of the mysteries or questions I have had had been cleared. It has to do with the left hand of Thomas. When I was preparing for the mural of quasi-copy of Leonardo's "The Last Supper," I have come across with some literature mentioning of the presence of the left hand of Thomas. Certainly, I have seen the left hand of Thomas painted by the early copyists of the mural, but I was not able to make out the shape of the hand by examining the pre-restoration photos of the original mural. Some restorers in the past seem to have painted the bread in the place of Thomas' left hand. In 1995-1996, when I was painting the copy, I've had to use the copies of the mural done by the followers to figure out where to place the left hand, for the restoration of the original mural was still not complete, and the photos were not yet available. (The image is from my mural. You can see the left hands of James the Greater and Thomas.)
Thanks to the restoration by Dr. Brambilla, I can see the left hand of Thomas with its fingers somewhat bent.

If you go to the following site, you can see the drawing in question. If you pay attention to the thumb, you can see that it appears to be "cut off". It is because the person is holding or holding onto the table. If you remember the gesture of Thomas, while he is pointing upwards with his right hand, the torso is leaning towards Jesus; therefore, he needs to hold onto the table in order not to fall forward. Also, from the evidence that the horizontal table line where the thumb is cut off is slightly raised towards the hand, and the fingers appears to be bent, one can imagine that it is due to the force of the left hand grabbing onto the table and pulling the table cross. The thumb is grabbing the side of the table, so it is hidden from the viewer.

http://www.art.com/products/p13304152-sa-i2453024/leonardo-da-vinci-study-of-a-left-hand.htm?ui=5CE751E79C224472B883B0C14D5355F5

http://www.art.com/asp/View_HighZoomResPop.asp?apn=13304152&imgloc=23-2362-Z00DJG2Y.jpg&imgwidth=776&imgheight=773

Children's Day (Tango no Sekku)

Children's Day (Tango no Sekku)

As the 5th day of the 5th month (May), this day is celebrated in Japan as the Children's Day (Kodomo no hi). It is also known as "Tango no Sekku(端午の節句). The day was set on May 5th when Japan adopted the Gregorian calender.
This celebration is said to be originated in China during the 3rd century AD. In Japan, this celebration may have begun during the 6th century or so.
This day is usually celebrated as the Boys' Day as opposed the Girls' Day on March 3rd; however, it is generally known to celebrate the children in general and also as the day to show the appreciation towards the mothers.

Koi(carp) banners/flags (koi nobori) are raised. In China, it is believed that the carps do become the dragons after they reach the upstream. I feel that it is the perfect symbol of the strength and tenacity of the carps (female) to overcome the odds by going against the stream to reach the goal to lay the eggs.

Kintaro doll and/or the samurai kabuto (helmet), etc., are displayed as the reminder of strength, health, and the honor.
Kintaro is also known as Sakata Kintoki, and he was the famous hero with the unusual strength. He was born during the 10th century (956?) between Yaegiri (八重桐)and Sakata Kurando (坂田蔵人),who was serving the Imperial court in Kyoto. After the death of the father, the mother raised Kintaro in the Ashigara mountain. 
Other legend has Kintaro's mother as the Yamauba/Yamanba(a monstrous female who feasted on the childen's flesh) and his father as the god of the thunder and the lightening. Also, there is another legend where the red dragon mated with Yaegiri and produced Kintaro. This legend is very interesting, for Herzeloyde, the mother of Parzival (of  Wolfram von Eschenbach) had the dream where the red dragon appeared when she had conceived Parzival.

Hakone, where my 'home' is located, is the part f the Ashigara mountains!
There is a mountain named, Kintoki-Yama, located near where I grew up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Day_(Japan)

Was Leonardo religious or not?

Was Leonardo religious or not?

I think he was not religious from the conventional point of view. Nor can I conclude that he was not religious at all.






Some claim that he was not religious based on that fact that he did not use the halo nor place a traditionally accepted sacred object on the Last Supper table, such as a Holy Chalice.


But, to me, Leonardo was more spiritual and perhaps religious than some of the painters of his time. Just because he did not use the halo does not automatically become equal to being non-religious.


He may well have thought and imagined, "What makes a person 'appear' more spiritual? Does putting a halo on the being portrayed makes him/her more spiritual? How can I convey the spirituality of a sacred beings without introducing the rather superficial, blindly traditional elements?


Yes, there are no Chalice on the Last Supper table in his painting. But is it not so that if such sacred being as Christ touches, anything can become sac red as the Holy Chalice? If he touched, the object can become sacred. Leonardo did not like the relic.


Instead, he wanted to show the holiness of the being through the gesture, posture, scenes, and facial expression... how to create the sacred atmosphere...


Can human nature express the divine? After all, these sacred beings in the paintings took the human forms to approach us. ...and God created human forms...!

"Fantastic Art Show 2010"

"Fantastic Art Show 2010"
シェア
2010年4月21日10:29
「幻想芸術展　２０１０」
International Fantastic Art Association　
http://ifaa.cc
info@ifaa.cc　　

会期５月1日（土）～５月9日（日）
開廊　11:00～20:00（最終日18:00迄）
※初日18:00よりレセプションパーティー

会場　Galleryやさしい予感
最寄駅　JR目黒駅
〒141-0021　東京都品川区上大崎2-9-25
TEL 03-5913-7635
http://www.yokan.info.
yasashii@yokan.info

===================================================
" Fantastic art show 2010"

May 1 (Sat) - May 9, (Sun).,
open 11: 00-20: 00 (last day, May 9 ~18: 00 )

* May, 1 .18: 00~ reception party

"Gallery Yasashii - Yokan"
nearest station JR Meguro
141-0021, 2-9-25 kamiosaki shinagawa-ku Tokyo ,Japan


===================================================
I am very honored to be included in this show!

Kite = tobi (Japanese) = milan/milano = nibbio

Leonardo had the memory of a kite (nibbio) flying down to his crib and striking the inside of his mouth/lips with its tail. It is interesting that Leonardo had connected this incident to his "destiny." ...but why? (By the way, Freud had mis-interpreted the word, "nibbio." He thought that it was a vulture, but in reality, it is a kite.)

A kite is a cautious bird. A kite is similar to a hawk, a bird of prey; therefore, for it to come close to Leonardo as an infant and not harming him is surprising.

An Egyptian goddess, Isis, sometimes transformed to a kite.

A kite, as well as a 'good' artist, has the wonderful eyesight.

Kites mate for life, and they help each other for brooding. The male brings the animal/food, and the female tears it apart and feed the chicks.
(This is the opposite of what Leonardo may have experienced in his early household.)

Mother kite uses the sound to warn the young ones when they are in danger (...to appear dead).
(Leonardo was a good singer - a sound maker.)

Most often they eat the already dead meat and remove the dead carcasses.
(Leonardo dissected the dead body.)

Red kite seems to have "the reputation to 'steal' the garments left out to dry." Shakespeare mentions it in his "Winter's Tale."
(Salai, whom Leonardo had adopted as his son, had the stealing habit!)

They glide in the air most of the time and not flapping their wings too often. Their legs are weak.
(The airplanes appear to glide when they are flying, and the man made kites are named after this bird. It is needless to mention about the "obsession" of Leonardo in regards to flying. )

(citation about the kite: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/トビ
           http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-bird-called-a-kite.htm
           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Kite
           http://www.arkive.org/red-kite/milvus-milvus/biology.html
           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Kite
           http://hato.de-blog.jp/hatokaku/cat6658626/index.html
           http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/view.php?tid=3&did=23384 )

Was Leonardo also trying to relate this incident with the fact that he later had lived and worked in Milan?
The pun on the name of kite in French (Milan)and Spanish (Milano) with the name of the city state, where Leonardo lived and worked, Milan (Milano), although the etymology of the name of the city has almost nothing to do with a kite, may indicate such connection.

Obviously Leonardo did not come to the realization back then, when the incident had taken place originally. Leonardo is reflecting and interpreting the incident much later in his life after reflecting about his life. We don't exactly know when this realization had occurred although it was eventually written down.

One thing which stand out in this memory is that Leonardo remembered/recorded what he had observed and not what/how he had felt. In other words, the infant Leonardo seems to have rather objectively observed and remembered the external event as the scientist would while this kite flew down and hit the inside of Leonardo's mouth/lips with its tale. On the other hand, Leonardo seems not to have observed nor recorded the internal feeling and emotion of his as the psychologist. We do not know the true reason for this. (...whether the incident was not the fearful experience, or he was choosing not to disclose the feeling.)
It is also interesting to note that Leonardo decided to record and write about this incident, yet none about his early relation to his mother was written (...or being discovered by the historians).

This kite may symbolize the messenger or a being who anoints, for it did not harm/attack Leonardo but struck the inside of the mouth as if to pass on something and/or to appoint.

Mayer Schapiro in his essay, "Leonardo and Freud: An Art-Historical Study," (one of the essays compiled in the "Renaissance Essays," edited by Paul Oskar Kristeller and Philip P. Wiener / published in 1968 by University of Rochester Press) points to the significance of the legends of some of the great personalities in the human history having the common theme of some type of small creature(s), whether a bird or the ants, entering and/or touching the mouth/lips of such personalities (...often, when they were very young). "In all these classical legends, the omen is located in the mouth, the place of speech and more particularly of the breath or spirit." (p 311) It is interesting to note that one of the personalities he mentions is Saint Ambrose who is the patron saint of the city of Milan.

Search for the missing Mural, "The Battle of Anghiari"

"The Battle of Anghiari"



Is the mural of "The Battle of Anghiari" really lost?


Was it partially ruined or totally ruined?


It has been said that the lower part of the mural was saved but not the upper part; however, it sounds too general and vague.


Leonardo seems to have increased the heat to dry and fix the running paints (from the upper portion of the wall) onto the wall surface. As I have mentioned in the earlier posting, during the "burning in" process of the encaustic painting method, the heat cannot be too high, for it melts the various parts of the painting and the paints would merge with each other, making the mess.


If it weren't for the sketches left by Rubens and the few others, we would have no idea what the mural may have looked like. Fortunately, what seems to be the central portion of the mural as been recorded by the above mentioned painters; however, there are some questions remain to be answered. Did Rubens, for instance, copy the portion of the mural accurately? If so, was that particular portion of the mural intact back then? ...or did Rubens and the others created their own version of it based on what was visible? We know from the record that a part - possibly the central portion - of the mural was visible and kept intact for sometime, and that is the reason why Rubens was able to copy it.


We do not exactly know what part of the mural was ruined/damaged. Where did Leonardo begin painting with the color? Did Leonardo, at least, succeed in painting that central portion? ..or did he not commenced with painting that area yet at the time of the disaster? ...or was it also ruined, but the images were recognizable?


Why did Leonardo not sketch and copy the mural for the record (even if it is ruined...)?


The late Prof. Carlo Pedretti (Leonardo expert) of UCLA, Prof. John F. Asmus of UCSD, and Prof. Maurizio Seracini believe in the existence of the fresco behind the current mural, "Battle of Marciano in Val di Chiana," painted by Vasari. Prof. Seracini is about to commence in the active search of this missing mural by Leonardo. I am very supportive of this project, for I also believe that it is very like that Vasari has preserved at least the famous central part of the mural. Prof. Seracini has discovered the gap between the current wall and the wall behind it. This wall behind should be examined. I wish him and his research team the best of luck!






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Anghiari_(painting)

Creativity

Creativity


We are used to associating the creative expression with art. Of course, all the great artworks are the fruit of the creative endeavor;however, we must keep in mind that the creativity and the creative process are not exclusive to the activities exercised by the artists. In fact, in many areas beyond the realm of the arts, the creativity is used.


I remember reading an unique art history book when I was in the middle school, where the author had praised the ancient man who had created (invented) the 'first' bowl, for it required the tremendous creativity.
I was enlightened.


Let us imagine the two primitive men. One is holding a burning stick (branch) to ward off the beast, and the other is using the primitive bowl he had made. In both cases, the creativity is used, and in both cases, they have had the realization of some sort. The former has realized that the beasts are afraid of the fire, so he can use the burning stick to scare the beasts although he did not ignite the fire nor made the stick. The latter also had the realization, but it is more complex, for he not only has figured out that the concave object in the shape similar to the hand(s) can scoop the water and retain and even transport the objects, he also has made/invented the bowl through the discovery of the raw materials that can be mixed and used. After awhile, he may discover that the uncured (non-fired) earth/clay would melt, so that he need to fire the earthen ware. This also is the major jump, for he has to associate the firing process (heat) with the permanence of the object (bowl). 


We can see in the above examples that the creativity is playing the major role (whether it was through the accidental discovery or the careful, playful, and thoughtful planning and the execution). 


Also, in both cases, the keen observation of the surrounding environment is crucial. The observation of the environment enables us to collect and store the visual data, and we can sort them out into the ones with the cyclical/rhythmical pattern and the unusual ones.


Although we cannot compare the artworks of Leonardo da Vinci to Michelangelo and determine which artist has used more creativity or not, but we also cannot compare these great artists to the primitive men who have exercised their creativity. While the master artists had the examples of their predecessor as the precedent, the primitive men had either little or no examples to follow (or to be inspired).