Email: 76734,1152@aol.com
I am a geologist currently studying the art and science of the Italian Renaissance. I have analyzed all of Leonardo da Vinci's paintings and drawings from a geological perspective. While scholars have long known about Leonardo's geological works, I have used geology, not only as a diagnostic tool, but as a basis for dispelling the notion that Leonardo's landscapes were fantasy. The landscapes are all accurate representations of locations that Leonardo would have visited in Italy. Leonardo's trademark was accurate depiction of geological formations. This provides us with an objective way to determine the provenance of a painting or drawing attributed to him.
In a recent article on the Leonardo World Wide Web Site entitled Leonardo's Geology: The Authenticity of the Virgin of the Rocks (/ Leonardo/isast/articles/pizzorusso.html), I present my discovery that the rocks in the Virgin of the Rocks in the National Gallery in London were not painted by Leonardo. An earlier version of the same painting, which is in the Louvre, shows Leonardo's trademark geological accuracy.
I am currently analyzing the geological entries in the Notebooks of Leonardo to determine how his views compare with modern geologic knowledge.
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