After his autograph work was known through his codices at the end of the 18th century, Leonardo da Vinci has become one of the most researched figures of our civilization. The approaches to his life and his vital activity cover a broad spectrum of human culture: he has been studied as a painter, sculptor, musician, organizer of lavish events, engineer, creator of machines with multiple purposes, scientist with a broad spectrum of interests. His sexual inclinations, his slight strabismus and his use of his left hand have been the subject of debate and discussion. His codices have been analyzed folio by folio from different points of view, leaving apparently little space for an original find.

The volume we review comes to open a new gap in possible inquiries about the work of the genius of the Renaissance. Its author, who was chief restorer in the Royal Library of the British Museum, presents an analysis of 600 pages treasured in this institution through sophisticated scientific tools: optical microscopy, infrared and ultraviolet studies, multispectral representation, Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence X-ray. The Diamond Light Source synchrotron facility, located in Harwell, Oxfordshire, in the United Kingdom, was used for this last analysis.

The work includes a meticulous study of the characteristics of the different types of paper used by Leonardo in his works, the elaboration of the cream of bone ashes with which the surfaces were smeared, the use of fine wires sewn as watermarks, just to mention a few aspects. It also includes a description of the tools and crayons used by Da Vinci.

The results of probing Leonardo’s records with these techniques yield extraordinary results. They allow us to see, for example, the creative process of the genius of the Renaissance that often outlined the figures with black crayon and then redraw on them with red crayons or ink.

Perhaps the most impressive result shown in this work is the finding of a fingerprint by Leonardo on the edges of one of the pages he dedicated to the anatomy of women.

This book by Alan Donnithorne magnifies on his own merit the extensive literature that already exists about Leonardo da Vinci.