These three famous drawings date from the years prior to
Leonardo’s departure for Milan (1482); three sheets with
different subjects, but all proclaiming him an innovational
precursor of future trends. Innovative is the view of a
landscape appearing on folio 8P from the Uffizi. Although the
strong influence of Northern painting on the Florentine artists
of the day can still be seen, the great distance that separates
this landscape drawing from coeval (and subsequent) ones is
immediately apparent. Dated August 5, 1473, the drawing bears
witness to Leonardo’s early concern with directly imitating
nature. It probably depicts the castle of Montevettolini on its
rocky spur and the hill of Monsummano opposite it, with the
Fucecchio marshes drifting into the distance between the two
heights. A landscape taken from life, then; where the most
amazing aspect is the throbbing pulse of life that the artist,
years in advance of others, manages to instill in the view of a
landscape, lyrically evoking the effect of wind blo