Leonardo da Vinci and the Science of Wood: The Note in the Madrid Codex II as a Foreshadowing of Modern Bioarchitecture

In the Madrid Codex II, preserved at the Biblioteca Nacional de España, Leonardo da Vinci records a brief yet remarkably significant reflection on wood preservation, describing a specific treatment technique aimed at making it resistant to degrading agents. This short note, seemingly marginal compared to the grand themes of mechanics or hydraulics that permeate the codex, actually reveals a profound awareness of the organic behavior of materials and an early intuition of what, centuries later, would be defined as “bioarchitecture.” The aim of this study is to analyze this annotation in light of Leonardo’s technical-scientific thought, the Renaissance cultural context, and the contemporary rediscovery of its experimental value. Through a comparative approach between Leonardo’s manuscript sources, contemporary treatises, and modern studies on the behavior of lignocellulosic materials, we intend to demonstrate how Leonardo understood the need to integrate science, nature, and sustainability long before these concepts were formulated in the language of modernity. His reflection on the “life of wood” emerges as a paradigm of systemic thinking ante litteram, capable of combining empiricism and natural philosophy.