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_Leonardo Da Vinci _
By: richard lativ
Leonardo Da Vinci Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the greatest and most ingenious
men that history has produced. His contributions in the areas of art, science,
and humanity are still among the most important that a single man has put
forth, definitely making his a life worth knowing. Da Vinci, born on April 15,
1452, is credited with being a master painter, sculptor, architect, musician,
engineer, and scientist. He was born an illegitimate child to Catherina, a
peasant girl. His father was Ser Piero da Vinci, a public notary for the city
of Florence, Italy. For the first four years of his life he lived with his
mother in the small village of Vinci, directly outside of the great center of
the Renaissance, Florence. Catherina was a poor woman, with possible artistic
talent, the genetic basis of Leonardo’s talents. Upon the realization of
Leonardo’s potential, his father took the boy to live with him and his wife in
Florence (Why did). This was the start of the boy’s education and his quest
for knowledge. Leonardo was recognized by many to be a "Renaissance child"
because of his many talents. As a boy, Leonardo was described as being
handsome, strong, and agile. He had keen powers of observation, an
imagination, and the ability to detach himself from the world around him. At
an early age Leonardo became interested in subjects such as botany, geology,
animals (specifically birds), the motion of water, and shadows (About
Leonardo). At the age of 17, in about 1469, Leonardo was apprenticed as a
garzone (studio boy) to Andrea del Verrocchio, the leading Florentine painter
and sculptor of his day. In Verrocchio’s workshop Leonardo was introduced to
many techniques, from the painting of altarpieces and panel pictures to the
creation of large sculptural projects in marble and bronze. In 1472 he was
accepted in the painter’s guild of Florence, and worked there for about six
years. While there, Leonardo often painted portions of Verrocchio’s paintings
for him, such as the background and the kneeling angel on the left in the
Baptism of Christ (Encarta). Leonardo’s sections of the painting have soft
shadings, with shadows concealing the edges. These areas are distinguished
easily against the sharply defined figures and objects of Verrocchio, that
reflect the style called Early Renaissance. Leonardo’s more graceful approach
marked the beginning of the High Renaissance. However, this style did not
become more popular in Italy for another 25 year (Gilbert 46). Leonardo
actually started the popularization of this style. For this reason Leonardo
could be called the "Father of the High Renaissance." Leonardo’s leading
skills emerged through his paintings and his techniques. Leonardo’s talents
soon drew him away from the Guild and in 1472 Leonardo finished his first
complete painting, Annunciation. In 1478 Leonardo reached the title of an
Independent Master. His first large painting, The Adoration of the Magi (begun
in 1481), which was left unfinished, was ordered in 1481 for the Monastery of
San Donato a Scopeto, Florence. Other works ascribed to his youth are the
Benois Madonna (1478), the portrait Ginevra de’ Benci (1474), and the
unfinished Saint Jerome (1481). Leonardo expanded his skills to other branches
of interest and in 1481 Leonardo wrote an astonishing letter to the Duke of
Milan, Ludovico Sforza. In this letter he stated that he knew how to build
portable bridges; that he knew the techniques of constructing bombardments and
of making cannons; that he could build ships as well as armored vehicles,
catapults, and other war machines; and that he could execute sculpture in
marble, bronze, and clay. Thus, he entered the service of the Duke in 1482,
working on Ludovico’s castle, organizing festivals, and he became recognized
as an expert in military engineering and arms. Under the Duke, Leonardo served
many positions. He served as principal engineer in the Duke’s numerous
military enterprises and was active as an architect (Encarta). As a military
engineer Leonardo designed artillery and planned the diversion of rivers. He
also improved many inventions that were already in use such as the rope
ladder. Leonardo also drew pictures of an armored tank hundreds of years ahead
of its time. His concept failed because the tank was too heavy to be mobile
and the hand cranks he designed were not strong enough to support such a
vehicle. As a civil engineer, he designed revolving stages for pageants. As a
sculptor he planned a huge monument of the Duke’s father mounted up on a
leaping horse. The Horse, as it was known, was the culmination of 16 years of
work. Leonardo was fascinated by horses and drew them constantly. In The
Horse, Leonardo experimented with the horses' forelegs and measurements. The
severe plagues in 1484 and 1485 drew his attention to town planning, and his
drawings and plans for domed churches reflect his concern with architectural
problems (Bookshelf). In addition he also assisted the Italian mathematician
Luca Pacioli in the work Divina Proportione (1509). While in Milan Leonardo
kept up his own work and studies with the possible help of apprentices and
pupils, for whom he probably wrote the various texts later compiled as
Treatise on Painting (1651). The most important painting of those created in
the early Milan age was The Virgin of the Rocks. Leonardo worked on this piece
for an extended period of time, seemingly unwilling to finish what he had
begun (Encarta). It is his earliest major painting that survives in complete
form. From 1495 to 1497 Leonardo labored on his masterpiece, The Last Supper,
a mural in the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
While painting The Last Supper, Leonardo rejected the fresco technique
normally used for wall paintings. An artist that uses this fresco method must
work quickly. Leonardo wanted to work slowly, revising his work, and use
shadows-which would have been impossible in using fresco painting. He invented
a new technique that involved coating the wall with a compound that he had
created. This compound, which was supposed to protect the paint and hold it in
place did not work, and soon after its completion the paint began to flake
away. For this reason The Last Supper still exists, but in poor condition
(Gilbert 46). Leonardo had at many times merged his inventive and creative
capabilities to enhance life and improve his works. Although his experiments
with plastering and painting failed, they showed his dissatisfaction with an
accepted means and his creativity and courage to experiment with a new and
untried idea. Experimentation with traditional techniques is evident in his
drawings as well. During Leonardo’s 18 year stay in Milan he also produced
other paintings and drawings, but most have been lost. He created stage
designs for theater, architectural drawings, and models for the dome of Milan
Cathedral. Leonardo also began to produce scientific drawings, especially of
the human body. He studied anatomy by dissecting human corpses and the bodies
of animals. Leonardo’s drawings did not only clarify the appearance of bones,
tendons, and other body parts but their function in addition. These drawings
are considered to be the first accurate representations of human anatomy.
Leonardo is also credited with the first use of the cross section, a popular
technique for diagramming the human body. Leonardo wrote, "The painter who has
acquired a knowledge of the nature of the sinews, muscles, and tendons will
know exactly in the movement of any limb how many and which of the sinews are
the cause of it, and which muscle by its swelling is the cause of this sinew’s
contracting" (Wallace 131). In December, 1499, the Sforza family was driven
out of Milan by French forces and Leonardo was forced to leave Milan and his
unfinished statue of Ludovico Sforza’s father, which was destroyed by French
archers that used it for target practice. Leonardo then returned to Florence
in 1500 (Bookshelf). When Leonardo returned to Florence the citizens welcomed
him with open arms because of the fame he acquired while in Milan. The work he
did there strongly influenced other artists such as Sandro Botticelli and
Piero di Cosimo. The work he was to produce would influence other masters such
as Michelangelo and Raphael. In 1502 Leonardo entered the service of Cesare
Borgia, Duke of Romagna and son and Chief General of Pope Alexander VI. For
this post he supervised work on the fortress of the papal territories in
central Italy. In 1503 he was a member of a commission of artists to decide on
the proper location for the David by Michelangelo (Encarta). Towards the end
of the year Leonardo began to design a decoration for the Great Hall of the
Palazzo Vecchio. Leonardo chose the Battle of Anghiari as the subject of the
mural, a victory for Florence in a war against Pisa. He made many drawings and
sketches of a cavalry battle, with tense soldiers, leaping horses and clouds
of dust. In painting The Battle of Anghiari Leonardo again rejected fresco and
tried an experimental technique called encaustic. Once again the experiment
was unsuccessful. Leonardo went on a trip and left the painting unfinished.
When he returned he found that the paint had run and he never finished the
painting. The paintings general appearance is known from Leonardo’s sketches
and other artists' copies of it (Creighton 45). During the period of time that
Leonardo spent painting the Palazzo Vecchio he also painted several other
works, including the most famous portrait ever, the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa,
also known as La Gioconda, (after the presumed name of the model’s husband)
became famous because of the unique expression on Lisa del Gioconda’s face.
She appears to have just started to or finished smiling. This painting was one
of Leonardo’s favorites and he carried it with him on all of his subsequent
travels (Clark 133). In 1506, Leonardo returned to Milan to finished up some
of his projects that he had to abandon during his hasty departure. He stayed
there until 1516 when he moved to Cloux, France, where he stayed with his
pupil Melzi. While in Milan he was named Court Painter to King Louis XII of
France, who was then residing in Milan. For the next six years he traveled
from Milan to Florence repeatedly to look after his inheritance. In 1514 he
traveled to Rome under the patronage of Pope Leo X. During this time
Leonardo’s energy was focused mainly on his scientific experiments. He then
moved to France to serve King Francis I. It is here in Chateau de Cloux that
he died on May 2,1519 (Wallace 127). Leonardo constantly reworked his
drawings, studies and mechanical theories. His observations of the motion of
water are amazingly accurate. In Leonardo’s Studies of Water Formation, the
flow patterns observed are swirling around , then below as it forms a pool.
Using modern slow motion cameras' scientists now study the same effects that
Leonardo wrote about and observed with his naked eye (Encarta). Another study
of water and wind is his Apocalyptic Visions. This is a collected study of
hurricanes and storms. In these highly detailed drawings the pen lines so
carefully marked explode into action similar to the storms themselves.
Leonardo’s mathematical drawings are also highly skilled. In a math formula
Leonardo proved the theory of perpetual motion false but it still intrigued
him. Among his vast notes were small ideas for a perpetual motion machine. His
ideas for completing this task involved an unbalanced wheel that would revolve
forever, conserving its energy. However these machines were never constructed.
Another mathematical drawing was the Polyhedron. This three dimensional figure
represented proportions to him "not only in numbers and measurements but also
in sounds, weights, positions and in whatsoever power there may be" (Wallace
59). The notebooks of Leonardo contain sketches and plans for inventions that
came into existence almost five-hundred years after the Renaissance. Leonardo
practiced a technique of writing backwards. It has been postulated that he did
this, being left-handed, so that he wouldn’t smear the ink by his left hand
running across newly-written words. Moreover, the individual words are spelled
backwards. In order to read the Notebooks one must hold the pages up to a
mirror and it is believed by some that Leonardo did this to keep his writing
and theories secret. In any event, contained in the Notebooks are plans and
drawings for what we recognize today as the first working propeller, a
submarine, a helicopter, a tank, parachutes, the cannon, perpetual motion
machines, and the rope ladder. There are perfectly executed drawings of the
human body, from the proportions of the full figure to dissections in the most
minute detail. It was observed, however, that Leonardo’s interest in the human
body and his ability to invent mechanical things were actually not as
paramount to him as was his fascination and awe of the natural world (Clark
133). Leonardo lived to be 67 years old. He is not known to have ever married
or had children. In fact, it was said of him that he only saw women as
"reproductive mechanisms" (Clark 134). If there is one quality that
characterizes the life of Leonardo da Vinci it would be his curiosity for life
and the world around him. Curiosity is the force that motivated him to
observe, dissect and document every particle of matter that warranted his
attention. From babies in the womb to seashells on the beach, nothing escaped
his relentless intellect. The mind of Leonardo transcends the period of the
Renaissance and every epoch thereafter. It is universally acknowledged that
his imagination, his powers of reason, and his sheer energy surpass that of
any person in history. The study of Leonardo is limited only by the inadequacy
of the student. Word Count: 2286
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