The Genius Leonardo Also Involved In Chess: Probably Attributed To The Tuscan Master’S “De Ludo Scachorum” Illustrations

Tuesday 22 April 2008

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

Chess is an historic game which is also practiced competitively today, but was once one of the most enjoyable distractions in the European courts. This game was studied and painted a lot. Lucas Van Leyden, Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen, Sofonisba Anguissola, and Ludovico Carracci, are just some of the names of illustrious painters who during the Renaissance dedicated interesting paintings to the game and to its players. But today it seems that even the undisputed genius of the renaissance played his part in this field. One of the most interesting treatises written to such purpose between the fourteen and fifteenth century was the “De Ludo Scachorum” (On the game of chess) realised by the monk Luca Bartolomeo Pacioli of Borgo San Sepolcro, a text that for centuries was considered lost and that recently appeared presuming unexpected revelations.

Luca Pacioli, a Franciscan monk and mathematical illustrator was Leonardo da Vinci’s friend and associate. The mathematician and Leonardo met in Milan in 1496; Leonardo illustrated his manuscript “The Divine Proportion”. The two of them fled together to Mantova in 1499 when French troops invaded Milan. Here, Leonardo was appointed to execute a painting for Isabella d’Este, a great lover of chess. “De Ludo Scachorum” was written in exactly this period and was dedicated to the marchioness and her consort Francesco Gonzaga.

For a long while it was supposed that the text was lost or that it was destroyed until 2006 when it was found in the library of Conte Guglielmo Coronini Cronberg, the last descendent of the noble family Gorizia. When he passed away in 1990, the Fondazione Palazzo Coronini Cronberg onlus was created which administered its patrimony and the library. When the directors realised that they had this important manuscript in their hands, the need to conduct a deeper study on it was initiated. They therefore thought to turn to Adolivio Capece, the president of Italian Chess Players Association who made the name Franco Rocco.
Franco Rocco is very famous in the chess world since in 1977, he made some innovative designs entitled “Scaccomatto”. This is a series that was attributed to the acknowledgement of Treccani who published them to illustrate the modern version of the game under the term “Scacchi”. His competences don’t finish there however. Rocco had in fact already noted Luca Pacioni in a pair of previous studies. He was put in contact with the foundation and so the adventure began.

According to Rocco’s deductions, Leonardo had created the illustrations based on the contents of the book, probably using a wax or clay model. The illustrations were sent back to Leonardo as they were based on the law of the golden proportion, like many of the other figures designed by the master, and similarities between some details in the illustrations and other designs of his can be seen. In the period in which the treatise was realised the renaissance also made us feel his influence on the game of chess: the rules of the game was evolving and it seemed as if Leonardo could have played a role in this too. The pieces represented in “De Ludo Scachorum” are completely new with respect to those used until that point and Franco Rocco declared for sure that they could not be attributed to any one else.

The reactions to these declarations were quite different: from the enthusiasm of the fans to the scepticism of the experts. In spite of the indisputable rapport that existed between Leonardo and Pacelli, some of the greatest scholars maintain that the designs couldn’t be attributed to the former. For Rocco the shaken critics appeared to be inconsistent and strong in their years of study decidedly declaring their conclusions even if they had no irrefutable evidence. It is necessary to consider that there is little “evidence” but the deductions do seem to have some grounding. It is definitely difficult then to think that the great genius Leonardo who painted by showing those magnificent results had also played a part in this field. The most vain artists of our era, from Man Ray to Duchamp and Dalì, from Baj to Cattelan, haven’t hesitated to propose their version of the most famous game in the world.