Leonardo Da Vinci May Be Behind Chess Drawings in Pacioli's Manuscript

Researchers believe the paintings found in a lost Italian manuscript about chess may have been drawn by Leonardo da Vinci. The document by Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli contained diagrams of possible chess scenarios, supposedly drawn by da Vinci.

Luca Pacioli and Leonardo da Vinci were close friends and spent time together collaborating on manuscripts. Last year, Pacioli’s “De ludo scacchorum” was found among thousands of volumes in a private collection in Gorizzia, in north-east Italy. It was supposedly written in the year 1500. Pacioli wrote a book about various chess strategies and ways in which they can be solved using illustrations. The drawing is similar to those found in newspapers that provide puzzles for chess enthusiasts where a solution is offered a day later. Pacioli provides these chess scenarios and with the help of a diagram, tells readers how to solve and win the game in a series of moves. The manuscript contains 48 pages of carefully drawn diagrams, each representing a possible chess scenario with solutions. It seems at that time there were several books of that nature, but Pacioli’s book was unique in that it contained beautiful illustrations. The king, queen, bishop and knight are represented by elegant and distinctive symbols, colored in black and red ink. When researchers analyzed these illustrations, they realized it looks like the work of a fine artist. Since Pacioli and Da Vinci were working with each other around the year 1500, they speculate the illustrations may have been done by Da Vinci himself. They also believe Da Vinci may have played chess at that time.

Illustration in the “De ludo scacchorum” Researchers now want to get an independent assessment from experts in the United States. The book of Pacioli is supposed to be the only surviving copy and if they confirm illustrations were drawn by Da Vinci, it will become a treasure.