LEONARDO DI VINCI AND THE TESTIMONY OF NATURAL COLLECTIONS: RELATIONS BETWEEN GEOLOGY, COLLECTIONS, AND THE ORGANIC THEORY OF FOSSILS

Leonardo Di Vinci’s writings on fossils contain subtle defenses of the view that fossils are the remains of once living organisms and display his prowess in relating features of fossils to geological and biological claims. Andrea Baucon, for instance, has focused on Leonardo’s encounter with trace fossils (fossils formed due to the behavior of organisms—a first) and, less recently, Leonardo’s notes (along with the work of others like Girolamo Fracastoro) have been used by Stephen J Gould as evidence that a plurality of interpretations for fossils were present by the 16th century (see Findlen 2004).1,2,3,4 Martin Rudwick, in the “Meaning of Fossils,” presents an overview of Leonardo’s thoughts about fossils, the deluge, and geological change, but does not detail the specifics of Leonardo’s arguments nor his interaction with fossil deposits.

To aid in our understanding of Leonardo’s work and the dialectic on fossils between the 16th and 17th centuries, I introduce the notion of a “natural collection” which highlights the epistemological role fossil deposits play in making inferences about the geological past in a manner that no individual fossil can. This can be best seen in Leonardo Di Vinci’s defense of the organic theory of fossils and, more precisely, his response to the view that the location of fossils could be explained by the deluge. After an explication of how Leonardo relates geology and biology via his observation of natural collections, I suggest that in explaining why particular understandings about fossils varied according to region, more importance be placed on not only the differential states of preservation of individual fossils but also on the natural and cultural character of these “natural collections.” Lastly, I conclude by discussing the subsequent migration of these natural collections to museum collections like Ulisse Aldrovandi’s where they could be juxtaposed with a variety of other objects allowing for numerous interpretations.