“Leonardo da Vinci… oh yeah, that is the guy who painted the Mona Lisa! ” That was all I knew about Leonardo da Vinci before I started this report. I knew that he lived during the Renaissance and that he was a very important man, but that is about it. There is so much more about Leonardo that he is known for, other than him being the painter of the famous Mona Lisa. Leonardo was a universal genius, (as said in “What Makes a Leonardo a Leonardo? ” By: Richard Mhlberger, Copyright: 1994) because he excelled in numerous areas of knowledge and contributed so much to the Renaissance.
He was one of the great asters of the High Renaissance (as said in the following website: http://metalab. unc. edu/cgfa/vinci/vinci_bio. htm) who was a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, mathematician, geologist, astronomer and scientist. Birthplace and Childhood: Leonardo da Vinci was born at 10:30 PM on Saturday, April 15th, 1452. He was born in the small Tuscan town of Vinci, which is near Florence. Although, in another reference, it said that he was probably born in a farm house in Anchiano, which is about three miles away from Vinci.
The family of Leonardo lived in this area since the 13th century. When Leonardo was born, Ser Piero, his father, was a twenty-five year old public notary. Also, when Leonardo was born, Ser Piero married his wife. He didn’t marry Catarina, his mother, because she probably the daughter of a farmer. Leonardo was christened from the parson Peiro da Bartolomeo, in the Baptismal Chapel. He was baptized to the name Lionardo, not Leonardo. The chapel is inside the church of Vinci. According to a tax record, when Leonardo was five years old, he was living with his grandparents.
Francesco, his uncle, probably taught him about nature though the wild countryside that surrounds Vinci. When Francesco died, about fifty years later, he willed his estate to Leonardo, which showed a sense of fondness to Leonardo. Apprenticeship: Leonardo lived in Vinci until 1466. Vinci is a small town, in the foot of Monte Albano, in the Tuscany in Italy. When he was fourteen, he moved to Florence, where he bagan an apprenticeship in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. Verrocchio was the leading Florentine painter and sculptor of his day.
The apprenticeship program provided all artistic training. He was introduced to many things like painting alterpieces, panel pictures and the creation of large sculptural projects in arble and bronze. Leonardo served Verrocchio for about thirteen years. While in the artists workshop he went to being a journeyman and then to being master craftsman. When he became a master craftsman, he was expected to copy Verrocchio’s work to perfection beacuse everything made in the shop was sold under Verrocchio’s name.
After seeing how Verrocchio’s knowledge of several subjects helped him, Leonardo saw that mastering many skills was one of the goals of an artist. He saw that science and art were closely related to each other and became a master for both. Verrocchio and Leonardo, then ollaborated on the painting “The Baptism of Christ” in about the year of 1472. The first known and dated work of Leonardo da Vinci is a pen and ink drawing of the Aronovalley. Leonardo drew it on August 5th, 1473. It shows the ingenious mind of Leonardo because he drew the landscape in a way that it look real, unlike anyone else’s work produced before.
Years in Milan: Between 1482 and 1499, Leonardo was in the service of the Duke of Milan. He was described in a list of the Dukes staff as a painter and engineer of the duke. Leonardo completed six paintings during this time in the dukes service. He also advised on architecture, fortifications and military matters. Plus, he was considered as a hydraulic and mechanical engineer. During the year of 1495, Leonardo began working on one of his most famous masterpieces, the Last Supper. This painting is an illustration of Leonardo’s unique style.
He broke with tradition by arranging the figures of the apostles into small groups with Jesus seated in the center of the scene. Leonardo’s portrayal of the Last Supper is alive with momentum and interaction between the characters. The people of his time had never seen a more vivid representation of this major even. This goes for people of our generation too. In 1499, Leonardo left Milan and went to Venice. In Venice, he consulted on architecture from 1495 to 1499. In 1502 and 1503, Leonardo was the military engineer for Cesare Borgia. After his service to the Borgias, he returned to Florence.
During the years of 1503 to 1506, Leonardo parinted classics such as the Mona Lisa. In 1506, Leonardo left to Florence and went to Milan. He then went back to Florence around 1507-08, to fight for his inheritance from his Uncle. In 1509, he returned to Milan and spent a lot of his time on scientific studies and engineering projects. In 1512, again Leonardo left Milan. From 1513 to 1516, Leonardo was in Rome under the protection of Giuliano de Medici. It was at this time that he came in contact with Michelangelo and Raphael, two to become his biggest rivals. 516 through 1519: King Francis I, invited Leonardo to spend his last times of his life in Amborise at the court of France In the autumn of 1516, Leonardo arrived in the ambroise, with him, he brought the famous painting of the Mona Lisa.
Leonardo lived in Ambroise, in the small castle Cloux (now called Le Clos Luce), which is situated between the town and the king castle. While in France, Leonardo didn’t paint, instead he made hydrological studies. In 1517, He designed a palace in Romorantin. Leonardo’s Death: Leonardo passed away on May 2nd, 1519, in Ambroise. Leonardo da Vinci died at the age of 67.
He wasn’t at the healthiest state, because he had a paralysis on the right side of his body since 1517, and Vasari told about an illness a few weeks before Leonardo dies. On April 23rd, 1519, Leonardo wrote his last will. St. Hubert, which is a chapel that is situated at the area of the king-castle, is the last resting place of Leonardo da Vinci. Originally, Leonardo was buried in the heart of the king-castle, in the cloister of the church, St. Florentin. But, after destruction of the church, and parts of the castle, Leonardo’s mortal remains were transferred to the chapel of St.
Hubert. But to this day, Leonardo da Vinci remains to be on the of the greatest people to ever have shadowed this earth. He was a great man of both the arts and sciences. He was indeed a man of “both” worlds. He was a master in both, world of art and the world of sciences. As I said earlier, Leonardo was an architect, an inventor and a scientist. That is what makes him the most ikely, most famous man of the Renaissance. Mona Lisa~Today: The portrait of the Mona Lisa is painted on a 77 x 53 cm. large popular-wood. As you know, it is the most famous work of Leonardo da Vinci.
Originally, the painting was larger than it is today because two columns (one on the left and the other on the right) have been cut along the sides of the painting. This is the reason of why its not easy to see that Mona Lisa is sitting on a terrace. Many details of the painting aren’t visible because they are partially damaged and some parts of the Mona Lisa were repainted. The characteristic still exists. The characteristic consists in the detailed background, which disappears in misty atmosphere (also referred to as a sfumato technique) and her smile.
Mona Lisa~History: It is supposed that Fracesco di Bartolommeo di Zanobi del Giocondo (one of the most noble citizens in France at the time) ordered, from Leonardo, a portrait of his 3rd wife, Lisa di Antonio Maria di Noldo Gherardini. Leonardo began this painting in 1503. Mona Lisa was twenty four years old. He worked on this portrait for four years. Leonardo kept the portrait and left to Florence in 1507. It is unknown why he kept it~some say t was because he never finished it and others say it was because he loved the portrait too much. In 1516, Leonardo arrived with the painting in his luggage in France.
He sold the painting in France to King Francis I, who bought it for the castle in Ambroise. On August 21st, 1911, Mona Lisa was stolen from an Italian thief, who brought the painting to Italy, where it emerged two years later in Florence. After some exhibitions, the Mona Lisa went back to Paris. An acid attempt damaged the lower half of the painting in 1956. Fixing it took a lot of years. In the 60’s and 70’s Mona Lisa was xposed in New York, Tokyo and Moscow. Today, the painting is behind bullet proof glass, in Paris , in the Louvve and international terms are prohibiting any journey.
Inventions: When we think of Leonardo da Vinci we think of a famous painter but he was also a famous inventor. To design machines, he would make very detailed sketches of all the working parts. Leonardo had many ideas on how to improve military weaponry. The catapult was a large device designed to hurl boulders and arrows to shoot into walled cites. The multi-fire gun was designed to shoot many bullets at once. This design was an early machine gun ype cannon. Leonardo used his philosophy to improve his mechanical abilities and many machines of his day. His Notebook: The notebook of Leonardo is now known as the Codex Arundel.
This notebook isn’t a bound volume used by Leonardo, but it was put together after he died. It consists of loose papers of various types and sizes. The first section began in Florence on March22nd, 1508 and the remainder comes from different periods in different manuscripts. Most of these notes are the raw materials for a book that Leonardo hoped to write on the physical properties and geographical effects of water. Theyare written in Italian and in Leonardo’s characteristic ‘mirror-writing’, left handed and moving from right to left. This manuscript was in Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel’s hands, in Italy.
He was the greatest English collector of art of his day. In 1681, it was presented to the Royal Society by Henry Howard (his grandson) and transferred to the British Museum in 1831. Leonardo’s Quote: “And you, O man, who all will discern in this work of mine the marvellous works of nature, if you think it would be a criminal thing to destroy it, reflect how much more criminal it is to take the life of man; and if this is, his external form, appears to thee marvelously constructed, remember that this structure; for that, indeed, be it may, is a Devine thing.
Leave it then to dwell in its work at its good pleasure, and let not your rage or malice destroy a life~for indeed, he who does not value it, does not himself deserve it. ” “Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigour of the mind. ” “Man is the model of the world. ” “Science is the captain, practice the soldier. ” “Painters who wish to represent the relief of things they paint must over the service with a half-tint, then paint in the darkest shadows and lastly the main lights.
“He who wishes to see how the soul inhabits the body should look to see how that body uses its daily surroundings. If the dwelling is dirty and neglected, the body will be kept by its soul in the same condition, dirty and neglected. ” “Nothing flows faster than the years, daughters of time. ” “When fortune comes, seize her firmly by the forelock, for, I tell you, she is bald at the back. ” “Avoid excessive study; it will give rise to a work destined to die with the workman. “