Leonardo, Paperfolder?r
Dear David, I recently read a claim by Lillian Oppenheimer, citing I think Robert Harbin, to the effect that LEONARDO was somehow involved in origami. Is there any substance to this rumor?? Saadya www.saadya.net ------ Dear Saadya, The rumour that Leonardo was a paperfolder dates back to the paperfolding exhibition "Plane Geometry and Fancy Figures" at the Cooper Union Museum in New York in the Summer of 1959. That was seven months after Lillian Oppenheimer founded the Origami Center in New York in October, 1958. Edward Kallop, of the Cooper Union Museum wrote a historical introduction to the catalogue of the exhibition in which he asserted that Leonardo did use paperfolding. He cited references from Leonardo's Codex Atlanticus in support of his views. Kallop's introduction was reprinted in "The Art Of Origami" by Samuel Randlett which was published in 1961. Since then I and other folders, in particular, Roberto Morassi of Italy have tried to verify Kallop's assertion but our research has cast doubt upon this contention. Some of Leonardo's drawings do suggest that he may have used some sort of material in his experiments when he was trying to build gliders. The material he used could have been parchment or cloth or possibly paper. But the process is unlikely to have been anything like origami. Here is part of an article which I wrote about two years ago about misconceptions about the history of paperfolding: Was Leonardo da Vinci a Paperfolder? Leonardo da Vinci has frequently been confidently asserted to have been a “ great paperfolder”. Is this assertion true? It is well-known that Leonardo had an unusually enquiring mind and was involved in many scientific investigations and experiments. In particular, he was interested in flying and drew up plans for ornithopters (aircraft that flap their wings like birds) gliders and helicopters. In some of the diagrams that he drew, it appears that he may have used membranes to form the wings of his aircraft. If so, were these of paper? More likely they were of parchment or vellum, although paper was already being made in southern Europe during Leonardo’s lifetime. In his introduction to the catalogue of the exhibition “Plane Geometry and Fancy Figures” held at the Cooper Union Museum in New York during the summer of 1949, (the exhibition at which models by Akira Yoshizawa were displayed) Edward Kallop wrote: “In the Codex Atlanticus, that monument to the scientific mind of Leonardo da Vinci, are found a number of geometric exercises that clearly make use of folding as simple visual illustrations with one in particular a near duplicate of the typical folded paper aeroplane of today. In some instances, the text contains the word “falcata”, meaning “bent” of “folded”, and while there is no mention of material of any kind, it is not difficult to imagine Leonardo would have found paper a more tractable medium than cloth”. In the notes to his Introduction, Kallop lists six references to illustrations in the Codex Atlanticus. Roberto Morassi of Florence in Italy, one of the founders of the Italian origami society, Centro Diffusione Origami, subsequently examined each of these figures in the Codex Atlanticus, but reported that in his opinion none of the illustrations represented paperfolding. I myself can only confirm that among all of the reproductions of Leonardo’s aircraft that I have seen, I have not seen anything resembling what we call “ origami”. Peter Engel shows a page of one of Leonardo’s notebooks on page 28 of his “Folding the Universe” So readers may make up their own minds. Some edges of foldable materials appear to be folded over, but does this amount to “ paperfolding” I hope that this will be of help. What is really needed is for someone to search systematically through all of Leonrdo's notebooks and other writings to find every possible instance that it might be possible to interpret as paperfolding and to go into the context of the drawings. It would however be a very challenging task and would require considerable study and dedication. Many thanks for the reference to your very impressive Web site. Having seen your portrait of Leonardo at the Masters of Origami Exhibition, I am very pleased, indeed to see more of your work. Best wishes, David Lister
Dear David, I recently read a claim by Lillian Oppenheimer, citing I think Robert Harbin, to the effect that LEONARDO was somehow involved in origami. Is there any substance to this rumor?? Saadya www.saadya.net ------ Dear Saadya, The rumour that Leonardo was a paperfolder dates back to the paperfolding exhibition "Plane Geometry and Fancy Figures" at the Cooper Union Museum in New York in the Summer of 1959. That was seven months after Lillian Oppenheimer founded the Origami Center in New York in October, 1958. Edward Kallop, of the Cooper Union Museum wrote a historical introduction to the catalogue of the exhibition in which he asserted that Leonardo did use paperfolding. He cited references from Leonardo's Codex Atlanticus in support of his views. Kallop's introduction was reprinted in "The Art Of Origami" by Samuel Randlett which was published in 1961. Since then I and other folders, in particular, Roberto Morassi of Italy have tried to verify Kallop's assertion but our research has cast doubt upon this contention. Some of Leonardo's drawings do suggest that he may have used some sort of material in his experiments when he was trying to build gliders. The material he used could have been parchment or cloth or possibly paper. But the process is unlikely to have been anything like origami. Here is part of an article which I wrote about two years ago about misconceptions about the history of paperfolding: Was Leonardo da Vinci a Paperfolder? Leonardo da Vinci has frequently been confidently asserted to have been a “ great paperfolder”. Is this assertion true? It is well-known that Leonardo had an unusually enquiring mind and was involved in many scientific investigations and experiments. In particular, he was interested in flying and drew up plans for ornithopters (aircraft that flap their wings like birds) gliders and helicopters. In some of the diagrams that he drew, it appears that he may have used membranes to form the wings of his aircraft. If so, were these of paper? More likely they were of parchment or vellum, although paper was already being made in southern Europe during Leonardo’s lifetime. In his introduction to the catalogue of the exhibition “Plane Geometry and Fancy Figures” held at the Cooper Union Museum in New York during the summer of 1949, (the exhibition at which models by Akira Yoshizawa were displayed) Edward Kallop wrote: “In the Codex Atlanticus, that monument to the scientific mind of Leonardo da Vinci, are found a number of geometric exercises that clearly make use of folding as simple visual illustrations with one in particular a near duplicate of the typical folded paper aeroplane of today. In some instances, the text contains the word “falcata”, meaning “bent” of “folded”, and while there is no mention of material of any kind, it is not difficult to imagine Leonardo would have found paper a more tractable medium than cloth”. In the notes to his Introduction, Kallop lists six references to illustrations in the Codex Atlanticus. Roberto Morassi of Florence in Italy, one of the founders of the Italian origami society, Centro Diffusione Origami, subsequently examined each of these figures in the Codex Atlanticus, but reported that in his opinion none of the illustrations represented paperfolding. I myself can only confirm that among all of the reproductions of Leonardo’s aircraft that I have seen, I have not seen anything resembling what we call “ origami”. Peter Engel shows a page of one of Leonardo’s notebooks on page 28 of his “Folding the Universe” So readers may make up their own minds. Some edges of foldable materials appear to be folded over, but does this amount to “ paperfolding” I hope that this will be of help. What is really needed is for someone to search systematically through all of Leonrdo's notebooks and other writings to find every possible instance that it might be possible to interpret as paperfolding and to go into the context of the drawings. It would however be a very challenging task and would require considerable study and dedication. Many thanks for the reference to your very impressive Web site. Having seen your portrait of Leonardo at the Masters of Origami Exhibition, I am very pleased, indeed to see more of your work. Best wishes, David Lister