De divina proportione by Luca Pacioli Plates by Leonardo da Vinci

For De divina proportione, Leonardo da Vinci created representations of 60 distinct polyhedra. These skeletal geometric figures represent the evolution of stereography, as they constitute the first clear visual distinction between the front and back perspectives of three-dimensional solids.

Up until Luca Pacioli published his book in 1509, the Platonic Solids were strictly "Solids" or wire-frame models. They were built out of glass, metal, or wood, but only as a solid. The Platonic Solids were never meant to be studied as skeletal representations of the Platonic Solids. However, Luca Pacioli donated 5 wooden Platonic Solid models to the Palazzo Magnani in Italy. The Milan carpenters who built the 5 Platonic Solids for Luca Pacioli must have studied stereotomy (stereotomia in Italian). They would have created a vertex drawing for each of the Platonic Solids and cut the edge pieces using the same techniques for cutting hip rafters. 

Did the Milan carpenters influence Leonardo da Vinci's drawings?

In the painting of Luca Pacioli, Albert Dürer is supposedly standing to the right of Luca Pacioli. Who had drawn out the nets of the Platonic Solids? Dürer was also famous. Born in Nuremberg, he established his reputation and influence across Europe in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints. So, there is a likelihood that Albert Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci collaborated on Leonardo da Vinci's woodcut prints for Luca Pacioli's book. 

Portrait of Luca Pacioli (1495), attributed to Jacopo de’ Barbari, Capodimonte Museum

Photo by Mostre-rò 

palazzo magnani feroni, Florence, italy