Leonardo, l’architettura antica e alcuni studi di edifici a pianta centrale

After leaving Milan and moving back to Florence, Leonardo had to make a trip to Rome. This can be demonstrated by a payment he made for the withdrawal of a bundle of clothes that he had brought with him from Rome in 1505. It may not be the only trip the artist made before 1513, as there is also evidence in a note from the Codex Atlanticus from 1500-1501 which reads: “In Rome / in ancient Tivoli Hadrian’s house”. An enigmatic note referring to Hadrian’s Villa, but taken together with the sketches of circular temples inspired by the so-called “Temple of the Sibyl”, drawn after 1506, it demonstrates the extent that Leonardo studied the ancient architecture of Tivoli.