Page 43 - AC-2-3

Arts & Communication Leonardo from Caffa in Crimea

the odd look of the waterfall, puzzled Kemp, who had no is promoted with the idea it was created by a 21-year-old
explanation for it. Notably, a 19 -century Swiss artist, Carlo Tuscan Leonardo da Vinci. In 1473, this Leonardo was
th
Bossoli (Lugano, Switzerland, 1815 – Turin, 1884), gave an studying painting and sculpture at the workshops of Andrea
indication of the ephemeralness of waterfalls in ancient del Verrocchio (Florence, 1435 – Venice, 1488) in Florence,
Sudak, capturing a view toward the Maiden Tower from but there is no record of this drawing in Verrocchio’s
the beach (Figure 6). Rushing over the rocks below the studio, or any reference to it repeated in a painting.
fortress, he depicts a waterfall without a river. A modern Villata 20,p.22 states, “[t]here is no painting by Leonardo that
aerial viewpoint captures this area from above, the visual can be connected to this drawing …”. As Villata further
anchor being the dome. Noticeably, there is no river and elaborates, “we will even have to wait for the Mona Lisa
no waterfall (Figure 3). to find a landscape of comparable depth …”. 20.p.22 Yet, it is
The dome disappears from another vantage point, claimed that the Tuscan painter Leonardo single-handedly
looking back from an elevated position near the Maiden invented the concept of landscape drawing in Western
Tower (Figure 4). However, from an almost similar European art, even though this is clearly not a depiction of
position, in another photograph, it is just visible (Figure 5). Tuscany. If this drawing is indeed by the painter Leonardo,
Finally, trying to capture the sensation of both the cliff then it implies that he had no artistic influences or sources
running toward the promontory on the left and the incline of inspiration. Further, he failed to repeat this feat or even
of the rocks that rise to the right, where the Maiden Tower to influence the course of Florentine painting.
is situated, has been achieved by a photographer with a
fisheye lens (Figure 7). An artist sitting at the same vantage In other words, experts believe a young Tuscan Leonardo
point could also sketch the whole scene as if one, perhaps drew this landscape in 1473 but did not repeat it again until
slightly readjusting his body left or right as he progressed. around 1515 in Rome when the background for the Mona
I have attempted to recreate the exact perspective of 8P, Lisa was laid down. Experts also fail to explain the date,
merging several photos to recreate the scene (Figure 8). August 5, 1473. On a random Thursday in August, when
When judging the photomontage, we must take into it would have been extremely hot, the artist is supposed to
consideration the differences between photography and have traveled all over Tuscany and Umbria, perhaps even
drafting, the angle of view, and the amount of time that has covering over 250 miles to see an unconnected waterfall,
elapsed, being around 550 years.

3.1.3. Summary
Art history researchers have been unable to find any
convincing connections between the scenery in Tuscany
and the landscape depicted in 8P. However, the drawing

Figure 7. View from just below Maiden Tower, Genoese Fortress, Sudak.
Retrieved from https://find-way.com.ua/en/regions/crimea/sudak/
genoese-fortress-in-sudak, February 17, 2024, free license.

Figure 6. Edmund Walker’s A lithograph of Carlo Bossoli “Ruins of a Large Figure 8. An amalgamation of various photographs (left) that shows the
Genoese Fortress at Sudak” (June 23, 1856). 20 cm × 28 cm on 56 cm × possible viewpoint of the small landscape drawing (right), although it
40 cm. License free, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University. is clear the draughtsman was sitting slightly right of this because he is
Retrieved from https://garystockbridge617.getarchive.net/media/ruins- looking up through the valley, which was planted with fields of wheat.
of-a-large-genoese-fortress-at-sudak-15349369369-1ba524, March 17, These wheat fields still exist and can be seen on Google maps (Artwork
2024. compiled on Canva by the author).

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 6 doi: 10.36922/ac.2642