Book/Printed Material On the Sphere and the Cylinder; On the Measurement of the Circle; On Conoids and Spheroids; On Spirals; On the Equilibrium of Planes; On the Quadrature of the Parabola; The Sand Reckoner. De sphaera et cilindro ; Dimensio circoli ; De conoidibus et sphaeroidibus ; De lineis spiralibus ; De planorum equilibriis ; Quadratura parabolae ; Arenarius
About this Item
Title
- On the Sphere and the Cylinder; On the Measurement of the Circle; On Conoids and Spheroids; On Spirals; On the Equilibrium of Planes; On the Quadrature of the Parabola; The Sand Reckoner.
Other Title
- De sphaera et cilindro ; Dimensio circoli ; De conoidibus et sphaeroidibus ; De lineis spiralibus ; De planorum equilibriis ; Quadratura parabolae ; Arenarius
Summary
- In the middle of the 15th century, a number of manuscripts by the third-century BC Greek mathematician Archimedes began to circulate in the humanistic centers in the courts of Italy. Piero della Francesca (circa 1416--92), the Renaissance artist best known for the frescos he painted for the Vatican and for the chapels in Arezzo, transcribed a copy of a Latin translation of Archimedes's geometry (a compilation of seven surviving treatises) and illustrated it with more than 200 drawings representing the mathematical theorems in the texts. This manuscript, long in the holdings of the Biblioteca Riccardiana in Florence, was only recently attributed to Piero by James Banker, an American scholar studying the transmission of Archimedes's geometry from the classical age. The manuscript, probably created by Piero in the late 1450s, is comprised of 82 folio leaves that shed significant light on Piero's work, not only as an artist but as a student of mathematics and geometry. Many of the illustrations in the margins capture the artist's skill at rendering complex geometrical figures into discernible forms. The simple, well-placed lines of the geometric forms in the manuscript represent an essential element of the artist's work and offer insights into his imaginative use of space and perspective to reproduce three-dimensional objects on canvas and paper.
Names
- Archimedes, circa 287 BCE--circa 212 BCE Author.
- Jacobus Cremonensis, flourished mid-15th century Translator.
- Piero, della Francesca, 1416?-1492 Illustrator.
Created / Published
- [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], [1450 to 1460]
Headings
- - Italy
- - 287 B.C. to 212 B.C
- - Mathematics, Greek
Notes
- - Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
- - Original resource extent: 82 folios ; 285 x 208 millimeters.
- - Original resource at: Riccardiana Library of Florence.
- - Content in Latin.
- - Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
Medium
- 1 online resource.
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2021667866
Online Format
- compressed data
- image
LCCN Permalink
Additional Metadata Formats
IIIF Presentation Manifest
Part of
Format
Contributor
- Archimedes, Circa 287 Bce
- Circa 212 Bce
- Jacobus Cremonensis, Flourished Mid-15th Century
- Piero, Della Francesca