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[the Earl of Whirl]

Mr. Da Vinci has been in the news a lot lately.  Many are wanting to open his burial site to answer some big questions about his death and other concerns.  All of this has made me wonder about a concern that directly affects this forum.  Did Leonardo spin tops.  What do you think?

[kevinm]

If i remember TMNT II, the Secret of the Ooze,
i think he threw yo-yos. i never saw the movie, but i
got a bunch of the yo-yos.

[Neff]

HAhAhaHahaHaugh <gasp>  haaghHAAAHHAha!

Donatello was my favorite Ninja Turtle.

I do not recall any mention of Leonardo de Vinci with skill toys in my architectural history classes, but that doesn't really prove anything.

[Ketzaltlipoka]

Credo ricordare una vecchia serie di televizione sulla vita di Leonardo. C`era una scena `ove non luì, mà dei raggazi erano giocando nella strada colle trottole. Ho abbastanza di materiale su luì. Ho bisgno di revvisare i testi.
Saì tù alcuna cosa con rispetto a questo tema, Maurizio?

[the Earl of Whirl]

I think Leonardo da Vinci would have had to throw tops at some time in his life, if not on many occasions.  He loved creative thinking and the movement of a finger spinning top would have fascinated him, don't you think?

I see where he is buried in the fine country of France, in Amboise.  Is that anywhere near
you, Jim?

[the Earl of Whirl]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pinterest.com/amp/pin/251920172880537748/

Is this proof that Leonardo spun tops or is it just a sales gimmick?

[lincolnrick]

Here's some more 'proof' that not only did Master da Vinci spin tops but designed them:

https://www.moddb.com/games/genio/news/leonardos-toys-prototypes-for-genio

[Jeremy McCreary]

What do we know about top design and top play in Da Vinci's time (1452 - 1519)?

[ta0]

Wow! Great find Mike! That proves your hunch. The digitized works of Leonardo are available online. I need to print a copy of the spintop pages when I get back home.

What do know about top design and top play in Da Vinci's time (1452 - 1519)?

We know very little. Thanks to Brueghel we know about European tops a century later.

[peonza]

We know very little. Thanks to Brueghel we know about European tops a century later.

This is a painting with a spinning top before Leonardo Da Vinci and Bruegel. It's by
Bertram de Minden and the title is "Visit of the angel. The Buxtehude Altar" and it was painting between 1400 and 1410.



And one question: Someone find the paper of Leonardo da Vinci with the drawing of spinning tops?

[vegabomb]

That’s pretty cool. I looked at it for a bit before I realized the forum cropped it. You have to click on the image to see it full size (and see the top at the bottom of the pic).

[ta0]

That’s pretty cool. I looked at it for a bit before I realized the forum cropped it. You have to click on the image to see it full size (and see the top at the bottom of the pic).

I modified it with a direct link to the image so the top shows.

And one question: Someone find the paper of Leonardo da Vinci with the drawing of spinning tops?

I'll look for it when I'm back home in 3 days. It could be a good 10,000 post!

[Jeremy McCreary]

The top in the Bertram de Minden painting appears to be a whipping top -- a type also portayed in Greek pottery many centuries older. If someone else did the whipping, Leonardo could have studied its motion on the ground up close. Ditto for a throwing top -- if such a thing existed in his time.

 I'd be interested to know if Leonardo or other scientists of his time studied finger tops or tops with mechanical starters, as such tops can be launched in a much more controlled fashion. As we all know, small details in the way a top is released can have large and hard-to-assess impacts on post-release behavior.

Example of contolled peg top launches with a wind-up LEGO starter here.

[ta0]

This is my 10,000 post  , and what better subject than Leonardo da Vinci's connection to tops?

Found it on the online da Vinci archive, e-Leo, made available by Biblioteca Leonardiana, of Leonardo's home town of Vinci in Tuscani.
The name for top he uses is "calmone" and the page is from the Codex Francia E, folio 50:

[the Earl of Whirl]

So amazing!!!  10,000 posts.  Leonardo.  And tops (calmone), which continue to amaze the whirled.