1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,639 Speaker 1: show that decode's history one day at a time. I'm 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: Gabe Lucier, and in this episode, we're looking at how 5 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: the personal journal of an Italian polymath became one of 6 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: the most highly coveted art objects in the world. The 7 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 1: day was December twelfth, nineteen eighty. A notebook containing writings 8 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: and illustrations by Leonardo da Vinci was sold at auction 9 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: for five point one million dollars. At the time, it 10 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: was the highest price ever paid for a manuscript and 11 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: the fifth highest price for any piece of art sold 12 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: at auction. The buyer was an American oil tycoon named 13 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: Armand Hammer, and if that name sounds a little familiar, 14 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: it's probably because he was the great grandfather of Hollywood 15 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: actor Army Hammer. The notebook sold at auction is believed 16 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: to have been compiled from fifteen oh six to fifteen ten, 17 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,479 Speaker 1: during Da Vinci's travels through Italy, roughly ten years before 18 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: his death. It was one of some thirty notebooks the 19 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: artist produced during his lifetime, and like the others, it 20 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: contains his thoughts on a variety of subjects. About a 21 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: third of the manuscript's seventy two loose pages are devoted 22 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: to writings and drawings related to water and fluid mechanics. 23 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: In one section, for instance, da Vinci speculates on the 24 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: outcome of throwing different shaped objects into water, and in 25 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: another he describes the possibility of using a vehicle to 26 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: stay underwater for extended periods, essentially predicting the submarine. The 27 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: rest of the manuscript contains the artist's musings on everything 28 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: from why the sky is blue to why fossils can 29 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:03,919 Speaker 1: be found on mountaintops. It also includes about three hundred 30 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: and sixty detailed drawings and diagrams, including several outlining the 31 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: dos and don'ts of bridge construction. Da Vinci also drew 32 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,519 Speaker 1: different phases of the moon as part of an exploration 33 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: of the phenomenon known as planet shine, the dim illumination 34 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: of a moon caused by sunlight reflected from a planet. 35 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: Some art historians believe da Vinci may have referred to 36 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: these notes when painting the background of his masterpiece, The 37 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa, using them as a guide to create subtle 38 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: transitions between light and dark. Like much of da Vinci's writing. 39 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: The text of the notebook is written backwards and has 40 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: to be read from right to left using a mirror. 41 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: Some have suggested the artist did this to help disguise 42 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: his theories, while others think it's just because he was 43 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: left handed and didn't want his ink de smerr. In 44 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 1: any case, his notes are worth the trouble to decipher, 45 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,119 Speaker 1: as they provide a glimpse into the artist's process, something 46 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: that can't always be gleaned from his finished works. At 47 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: some point after da Vinci's death in fifteen nineteen, the 48 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,359 Speaker 1: loose pages of the manuscript were bound together and fell 49 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: into the possession of Milanese sculptor Guielmo de la Porta. 50 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: Then in sixteen ninety a painter named Giuseppe Geszi discovered 51 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: the notebook in a chest of papers belonging to Porta. 52 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,360 Speaker 1: Gessi held on to it for about thirty years before 53 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: selling it to Thomas Cook, the first Earl of Leicester. 54 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: Cook proudly displayed the manuscript at his family estate in England, 55 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: and for the next two centuries it was passed down 56 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: from one earl to the next. In nineteen eighty, the 57 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: man who was the Earl of Leicester at the time 58 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: decided to sell the notebook, which by then was known 59 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: as the lester Kodex. It was an act of necessity 60 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: on his part, as he needed money to pay the 61 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: inheritance taxes on the estate and art collection of the 62 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: previous earl, who had died four years earlier, and so 63 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: on to December twelfth, nineteen eighty, the Codex went up 64 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 1: for sale at Christie's auction House in London. The bidding 65 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: began at one point four million dollars and lasted less 66 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: than two minutes. A handful of bidders raised the price 67 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: one hundred thousand dollars at a time, and when the 68 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: gavel finally fell, the Codex was sold to Armand Hammer, 69 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 1: the chairman of Occidental Petroleum. He bid five million, one 70 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty six thousand dollars for his prize, but 71 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,920 Speaker 1: after taxes and auction fees, he wound up paying closer 72 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:37,039 Speaker 1: to five point six million. That's a staggering price tag 73 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: for most of us, but it was a drop in 74 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: the bucket for Hammer. After the auction, he told the 75 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:46,280 Speaker 1: press quote, I'm very happy with the price. I expected 76 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: to pay more. There is no work of art in 77 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: the world. I wanted more than this. Another person who 78 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,920 Speaker 1: expected the codex to fetch a higher price was the 79 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: Earl of Leicester. He said he was only reasonably happy 80 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: with the sale and claimed the proceeds wouldn't be enough 81 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: to cover the tax as he owed. As for Hammer, 82 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: he placed the notebook in his private art collection and 83 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: renamed it the Hammer Codex. He then enlisted Da Vinci 84 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: scholar Carlo Pedretti to translate the seventy two pages into English, 85 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 1: a project that was completed in nineteen eighty seven. Hammer 86 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: himself passed away just three years later, and when he did, 87 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,360 Speaker 1: he left his extensive collection, including the Codex, to the 88 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center at the 89 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:39,279 Speaker 1: University of California, Los Angeles. However, the museum didn't get 90 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: to keep it for very long. A few years later, 91 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: the niece of Hammer's late wife sued his estate for 92 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: a piece of his art collection and other assets. The 93 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,720 Speaker 1: lawsuits dragged on at great expense, so in nineteen ninety four, 94 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: the museum put the codex on the auction block once 95 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: again to cover its legal fees. Christie's director of Books 96 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: and Manuscripts estimated that the Codex would bring about ten 97 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 1: million dollars at auction, but in the end it sold 98 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,280 Speaker 1: for a new record high price of thirty point eight 99 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: million dollars. The anonymous bidder was later identified as none 100 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: other than Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft. Gates 101 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:23,720 Speaker 1: still owns the Kodex today, making it the only surviving 102 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: Da Vinci notebook that's still in the hands of a 103 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: private collector. The rest belonged to museums all over the world. 104 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: In Gates's defense, though, he's been a pretty great steward 105 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: of the manuscript. For starters, he changed the title back 106 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: to the Lester Codex, resisting the temptation to name it 107 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: after himself. Far More importantly, though, he's continued to loan 108 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: the manuscript to a number of museums for public display, 109 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:50,840 Speaker 1: and he even created a piece of software called the 110 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,840 Speaker 1: Kodoscope to help museum goers read da Vinci's backwards writing. 111 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: All that exposure has only added to the Codex's value. 112 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:02,479 Speaker 1: If it were put up for auction again today, experts 113 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: estimated would sell for upwards of one hundred and thirty 114 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: million dollars. That said, Bill Gates doesn't strike me as 115 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: being hard up for cash. So I don't think he'll 116 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: be letting it go anytime soon. I'm Gabe Luesier and 117 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today 118 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up 119 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: with the show, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 120 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: Instagram at TDI HC Show. You can also rate and 121 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can share 122 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: your feedback directly by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia 123 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 124 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 125 00:07:47,040 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History class.