Among the tens of thousands of drawings in Leonardo da Vinci’s 12-volume Codex Atlanticus at Milan’s Biblioteca Ambrosiana Library there is an image that remained in obscurity until recently.
Among a far-ranging series of subjects, from anatomy to weaponry to musical instruments, mathematics and botany there is a sketch of a handbag that reflects Leonardo’s aesthetic for both beauty and functionality and his interest in fashion. Dated to about 1497, the designer handbag has been reinterpreted by Gherardini, a Florentine luxury leather goods company said to have Mona Lisa as part of their family tree.
Fragmented drawings reassembled by Agnese Sabato and Alessandro Vezzosi, director of Museo Ideale , located in Vinci , Leonardo’s birthplace, were used to recreate the handbag. Named the “Pretiosa di Leonardo” (pretiosa meaning “precious” in Italian), the shape, according to Vezzosi recalls the lectern in “The Annunciation,” painted by Leonardo in the workshop of Verrocchio while rotating spirals, floral scrolls and foliage embellish the leather to create a purse that would surely have made a Renaissance fashionista’s heart flutter.
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