Leonardo da Vinci: natura metamorfica e infinite mescolanze

Leonardo da Vinci : Metamorphic Nature and Infinite Mixtures Starting from the image of Leonardo that has developed over the centuries and the current difficulty in considering him a ‘philosopher’ in the strict sense, we propose a re-reading of some passages from his Florentine period, attempting to bring into focus the conception of nature present therein, both in a narrow, physical sense and in its broader cosmological and metaphysical meaning. The result is a metamorphic conception of nature, of Ovidian origin, yet devoid of any teleological or transcendent aspect. This conception, developed by Leonardo in subsequent years through the use of perspective as a universal science, culminates in his later notes on life as a phenomenon that can be understood only by renouncing a substantialist conception of individual “form”.