L'Italo-Americano

I n honor of the 500th anniver- sary of Leonardo da Vinci's death (1452-1519), the San Francisco Bay Area will host numerous events, exhibits, and presentations honoring this Italian genius. One tribute is a stun- ning book about da Vinci titled Leonardo's Knots, by author Caroline Cocciardi. The book - actually, this topic - is quite groundbreaking as it seems Ms. Cocciardi may actually be the first author to shed light on a most per- plexing and fascinating aspect of da Vinci's many works. What do many of da Vinci's paintings have in common? Caro- line answers that question by ex- ploring Leonardo's passion for knots and mathematics. She traces da Vinci's evolution from tradi- tional knots, aesthetically appealing and ornamental, to mathematical knot patterns that tell a story within his art. L'Italo-Americano spoke with Ms. Cocciardi about her discovery and her 20 years of research into the man behind the genius. Are you Italian by ancestry or marriage? My ancestors are from the Puglia area. I did notice our last names are so similar. In my case, my parents were immigrants so when I was ten years old, and vis- ited Italy for the first time, my DNA seemed to kick in and perk up. I'm the first generation in 400 years to live outside of Italy. Now, when I fly to Italy and the plane breaks through the clouds, I feel a change as if I am being welcomed. The feeling seems to come from CATHERINE ACCARDI an off-hand decoration. For ex- ample, the Mona Lisa knot is the celebration of the octagon. When studying the Mona Lisa knot, I went on to research Renais- sance clothing and that really tells a story. When you begin to take apart what Mona Lisa is wearing, you can see how he broke with fashion protocol. I followed the knot back to when those were known as impressa. So today, that would be considered a logo and that's the thing that we will see time and time again with his knots. Painting copyists copied the paintings, some quite successfully, but when it comes down to copy- ing the knots exactly, they all failed. For example, no copyist has successfully copied the Mona Lisa knot, particularly in duplicating the crossings. In his 2005 Stanford Univer- sity Commencement Address, Steve Jobs said, "You can't con- nect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." So, in my case, all my dots connected and they began way back even before I saw the Last Supper. Actually, they began when I made my first trip to Italy at the age of ten. One of the many fascinating as- pects of Caroline's presentations is that she does bring an exact 360 replica, front and back, of the Mona Lisa, and during her lecture, she highlights the knots in Mona Lisa's garments. Leonardo da Vinci master- pieces that include a knot are the Mona Lisa, Bella Principessa, An- nunciation, Lady in Profile, The Last Supper, Salvator Mundi, Is- abella D'Este, and Lady with an Ermine, to name just a few. Caroline shared an image of Knot #1 with L'Italo-Americano saying, "Knot #1 is from the Ac- cademia Vinciana Series.  Since they were copied by print maker Dürer when he met Leonardo in 1509 (Leonardo's originals no longer exist) they have not been examined in 500 years. With my collaboration with knot mathemati- cians and with 21st technology, we were able to map the knot cross- ings which revealed new informa- tion and the results are pure eye candy." And eye candy they are! Leonardo's Knots will introduce you to a facet of da Vinci that you have not seen before, found in the minuscule details of his works, yet it speaks volumes about his pas- sion for knots and mathematics. You can decide for yourself if the knots are art, mathematics or a mystery. my DNA. When did your interest in Leonardo's knots first manifest itself? I had moved to Italy in May 1999 just in time for the 25 year restoration of the Last Supper by renowned Italian art restorer Pinin Brambilla Barcilon. It was then, when I viewed the Last Supper, that something happened to me. I was just bowled over! It was just like he put me right into that mo- ment, so much so that I left think- ing, "So this is the Leonardo guy I was looking for – Leonardo the human being. He has writings about every- thing under the sun but I could not find "him," the man. Only to find out that he's right in front of all of us and has been for the last 500 years. I kept digging into him and kept thinking I'm going to find him somewhere, but I never found him in words, I found him in his knots. Your research seems to be the first to delve deeply into the mys- tery of the knots. Yes it is. In fact, there is a li- brary in Milan dedicated to Leonardo, the Raccolta Vinciana within the Castello Sforzesco. I have gone there over the years and the librarian confirmed there is no book on the knots. What I have found is that Leonardo really grav- itated to knots and I think he re- lated them to bigger issues, to big- ger questions, which were actually easier for him to express in an in- terlocking knot rather than words. During his century, were knots "the thing" or was this spe- cific to him at the time? Other artists used knots which do appear in their works, but those knots were those found from an- tiquity. The three knots of antiq- uity are Infinity, knot of Isis and Salomon's knots. Those are the three knots other artists used, but the moment da Vinci met Pacioli, he began his own new styles of knots. Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pa- cioli (c. 1447 – 1517) was an Ital- ian mathematician, Franciscan friar, and collaborator with Leonardo da Vinci. Once they met, Leonardo's knots became deliber- ate. They were not by accident, not Leonardo's Knots – art, mathematics or mystery? The Last Supper: it's in front of Leonardo's masterpiece that Caroline Cocciardi realized she wanted to work on da Vinci's mysteries and art. Courtesy of mediawiki.org Cocciardi poses with a copy of the Mona Lisa. Courtesy Caroline Cocciardi THURSDAY, MAY 30, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 26 L'Italo-Americano SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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