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Arts & Communication Leonardo from Caffa in Crimea

out that the origin of Leonardo’s mother remains unclear. attribution is based on an Italian inscription, written in
Yet, they highlight Caffa as a possible location for a slave reverse on the top left side of the drawing, which mentions
mother’s origins, pointing to a map discovered in the Codex the date “The Madonna of the Snow, August 5, 1473.” There
Atlanticus (c.1495), a manuscript attributed to Leonardo da is further evidence that the artist was left-handed, and it has
Vinci (Figure 1) and now housed in the Ambrosiana Library been assumed since first noted in Vasari in 1568 that the
in Milan. By 1300, Caffa was a prosperous city ruled by the Tuscan Leonardo da Vinci was left-handed. However, there
8
Genoese and inhabited by a diverse population of merchants is no evidence that the date relates to anything significant
from different cities, including pockets of Russians, Greeks, in the artist’s life or work. Frosinini states, 9,p.246 “[i]t is very
and Armenians. The city had distinct Muslim and Turkish tempting to consider [the drawing]… as a geographically
quarters and was surrounded by Tartars. Christian churches identifiable landscape, tied to Leonardo’s birthplace.” Yet,
coexisted with mosques and synagogues. Caffa was a hub no one has been able to find a vantage point from where
of international trade, but its most significant trade was the drawing could have been made. As Nicholl 10,p.49 points
the slave market. The Turks captured Caffa in 1475, and it out, “[a]s soon as one tries to relate [the features] to a
7
was renamed Kefe. By 1495, most domestic slaves in Italy map of the area—or to actual views from actual hills—the
had obtained their freedom. The significance of Caffa to drawing promptly recedes back into mystery.” Although
studying the documents under discussion becomes clear. Nicholl claims one feature is unmistakably in Tuscany, a
What should be kept in mind is that it was particularly slave mountain known as Monsummano Alto that rises to an
mother theories that first challenged the centralized Western impressive elevation of 330 m, he then contradicts this,
narrative of Leonardo research. stating, “[t]he distinctive form of Monsummano is visible
from many vantage points in the Mont’ Albano, but no
3. The Documents one has yet found the particular spot which provides this
The first four subsections (Sections 3.1 – 3.4) discuss particular vista. My own belief, having tracked the area
documents currently attributed to the Tuscan painter in search of it, is that no such spot exists”. 10,p.49 It should
Leonardo da Vinci. Section 3.5 reinterprets a letter written also be noted that Monsummano is located a considerable
by Giovanni Bentivoglio (Bologna, 1443 – Milan, 1508), distance away from Vinci, and the terrain between the two
the ruler of Bologna, which was recovered from Florentine locations is quite rugged and hilly. In summary, the date
archives in the early 1990s. Please see Appendix for a list of and the scenery depicted in the drawing remain a mystery.
the primary documents discussed in this article. Some scholars have developed theories that it is not a
landscape at all but a depiction of a mythological scene
3.1. Reinterpreting a landscape drawing dated from literature, with hidden faces and mystical beings. 11
August 5, 1473
The landscape drawing (Figure 2) has several unusual
The first document to be discussed in detail is a small elements, not only the date and the unidentified scenery.
landscape drawing (8P), which is believed to have been
created by the Tuscan painter Leonardo da Vinci. The

Figure 2. Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci: A Small Landscape Drawing,
Figure 1. A map of Europe depicted in the Codex Atlanticus, 1006, recto (c.1493). Brown ink, quill pen, and other media on paper, 19
verso (c.1493), Ambrosiana Library, Milan. Retrieved from https:// cm×28.5 cm. Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe, 8P. Uffizi Museum,
www.ambrosiana.it/en/opere/atlantic-codex-codex-atlanticus-f-1006- Florence. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
verso/15 February 2024, in the public domain for non-profit research, File: Study_of_a_Tuscan_Landscape.jpg 15 February 2024, in the public
Italian Decree Law no. 83 of 31/05/2014 clause 12.3 turned into in Law domain, non-profit research, Italian Decree Law no. 83 of 31/05/2014
no. 106 of 29/07/2014. clause 12.3 turned into in Law no. 106 of 29/07/2014.

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 3 doi: 10.36922/ac.2642