Abstract

The purpose of this article is to relate Leonardo’s conception of visual communication and writing, as it emerges from his manuscripts, to current theoretical notions. The first and second parts of the paper focus on demonstrating that the written dimension is the “platformµ that allows Leonardo to integrate and exploit the properties of the different modalities of visual communication that share the common element of “being drawn on a surfaceµ. The third part of the research looks at Leonardo’s principles through the lens of various theories of image and writing, and in particular compares them with the notion of “extended writingµ, even considering the relationship between writing and the consequence of the invention of the printing press with movable type