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ITALIAN PAINTER, DESIGNER, SCULPTOR, INVENTOR, SCIENTIST, ARCHITECT, AND ENGINEER
Born: April 15, 1452 – Anchiano, Tuscany
Died: May 2, 1519 – Clos Lucé, France
Summary of Leonardo da Vinci
Humanism was in popularity during the Italian High Renaissance, in which artists were intellectually invested in self-improvement and worldliness. A man who has engaged himself in a variety of hobbies, such as poetry and music, would become known as a “Renaissance man.” Leonardo da Vinci is widely known as the very first representative of this phrase. Even though his boundless curiosity gave him knowledge in many areas, his works have been hailed as some of the best in the history of art. His famous works are still being researched and looked up to today.
Leonardo was an intellectual savant: His skill was multi-disciplinary and included subjects ranging from invention to literature. Learning will never bore him, he says.
Leonardo da Vinci is mainly known as a painter, even though he did extensive research into many disciplines. His artistic output includes some of the most recognisable works of all time, such as his famed Mona Lisa, which has been imitated and plagiarised repeatedly, as well as The Last Supper, a widely reproduced religious image, and Vitruvian Man, an early drawing focused on both spatial and anatomical symmetry.
Leonardo developed methods and approaches from Early Renaissance artists including linear perspective, chiaroscuro, realism, and emotional expressionism that helped inspire the art of the High Renaissance. His skill in blending his glazes, as well as his careful accuracy, resulted in his paintings appearing as if his subjects were alive and living in the canvas.
Leonardo’s forward-thinking, unorthodox mindset helped him come up with cutting-edge inventions and ideas that others took a long time to emulate. He did it with the use of both sides of his brain and had an insatiable curiosity. It’s said that he made the initial designs for the parachute, helicopter, and military tank, and is credited with that achievement. Nearly as well-regarded as his paintings are his sketchbooks. His lifetime of labour is shown in his head. His schematics, sketches, and ideologies are found within. Artists, academics, and scientists across the globe continue to investigate and study these objects today.
Biography of Leonardo da Vinci
Childhood 1452-1466
Leonardo da Vinci, a renowned figure known for his creative nature, was born in Vinci, Tuscany, in 1452 in a hamlet not far from his home town.
He was raised on the family estate in Anchiano by his paternal grandpa, the illegitimate son of Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine notary, and Caterina, a peasant girl. Leonardo’s father, at age 18, married Albiera, who was 16 years old, and she died of illness soon thereafter. Leonardo grieved the loss of the close friend who had raised him. Even though Leonardo was born outside of wedlock, his family didn’t care and accepted him for who he was.
Early Life 1452-1481
Leonardo left his hometown to go to Florence when he was 14, where he had been accepted as an apprentice by a great artist named Andrea del Verrocchio, who had been a pupil of Donatello, a maestro of the Early Renaissance. The Renaissance was supported and enriched by the Medici family. Verrocchio, a famous artist, worked in the Medici court, where he created influential works that continue to shape culture today. Florence was a famous place for artists in Renaissance Italy, and here was where young painters like Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino, and Lorenzo de Credi came to hone their talents. Leonardo’s apprenticeship with the renowned art studio is a sign of his father’s prominence in the city.
It was a time when artists devoted their research to the humanities in order to get a complete picture of man’s position in the world. Leonardo’s brilliance under Verrocchio’s tutelage had considerable room to flourish. He became intrigued by such subjects as anatomy, architecture, chemistry, mathematics, and engineering, which he began studying alongside his artwork, sculpting, and painting. This schooling helped mould a powerful imagination, which would eventually help him devise his numerous inventions, such as a war weapon which he drew on a piece of paper, proof of his status as a genius today.
Verrocchio’s shop was known for putting a lot of work into the craftsmanship of each project they created. It was a group effort, and it went on as a group effort. The Baptism of Christ, 1475, and The Annunciation, 1472-1475, in particular, is associated with a brushy, lighter hand which art historians, notably Giorgio Vasari, attribute to Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo joined the Guild of St Luke in 1472 after six years of apprenticeship, where he worked with other painters and medical professionals. Although his father helped him out by providing him with his own studio, Leonardo ended up assisting Verrocchio for four years.
In 1476, Leonardo was charged with homosexuality, but he was cleared when no proof was found, which is said to be the result of the fact that his acquaintances were from influential families. Punishment included imprisonment, public shaming, and execution. Perhaps because of the punishment he suffered after the horrific incident, he chose to stay out of the public eye for the next several years, during which very little is known.
The monks of San Donato a Scopeto gave him a commission in 1481 to paint the Adoration of the Magi. Leonardo was willing to abandon the painting project in Milan so he could work for the Duke. He made this decision after getting an offer from the Duke of Milan to serve in his court. Speculation abounds about the motives for the transfer to Milan at this point, with many citing past accusations of sodomy. Leonardo’s flight to Milan presumably stems from his lust for fame, fueled by the very obvious offer he received from the high-profile Milanese Court.
Mid Life 1482-1513
Leonardo served at Milan’s court for almost a decade, starting in 1482 and finishing in 1499. His interest in people began with an obsession for details, and he was very drawn to studying how people move, build, and communicate. It’s clear that this was a tremendous effort, so maybe it’s related to the fact that the collection contains very few completed works, but an enormous amount of drawings, cartoon sketches, and even whole comic books that were drawn out in meticulous detail as if they were illustrations for paintings. This work displays not just his incredible eye for detail, but also his skill in illustrating and capturing the feelings of others.
During this time, he began to try out many other, previously-unknown painting methods. One of Leonardo’s trademark abilities was to achieve a smokey look that he described as sfumato. He used his ability to use paints and glazes and figured up a method that may enable the hardness of crystals to be somewhat transparent as well as provide texture to hair. His use of people and things in the exact form he saw them really mirrored reality, since his figures and topics were the most genuine anybody had ever seen. This is shown most clearly in his work Salvatore Mundi, which has an orb in the centre (1490-1500).
Still, like so many revolutions in the world of innovation, his experiments created new difficulties afterwards. Of the works from that time that will be long remembered, he is most known for his fresco masterwork, The Last Supper (1495-98). The painter (known only as Master Enrico) did it on the refectory wall of the monastery of Santa Maria del Grazie in Milan to make the work seem as though it were covered with the flakey finish called sfumato.
To learn more about the Duke’s diplomacy in Milan, Matthias Corvinus summoned Leonardo da Vinci, asking him to devise extravagant festival designs, work on engineering and architectural projects, and construct a dome for Milan’s church.
Leonardo was tasked with finishing his last project in Milan: a colossal horse bronze sculpture honouring the founder of the Sforza family. For the royal wedding of Emperor Maximilian to Bianca Maria Sforza in 1503, a replica of the planned sculpture was shown in public in order to illustrate the scale of the piece. Despite the fact that the project was never completed, and the French army in Milan, who had conquered the city in 1499, ended up using the model for target practise, the Milan Cathedral (Or Duomo) remains beautiful even today. In the defence of Milan against Charles VIII in the battle with France, the bronze used for the sculpture was repurposed for making cannons, which did not prove effective.
Leonardo, who had been living with his long-time friend and assistant, Salai, for the last 10 years, decided to go to Venice after learning that Salai’s hometown was there.
While in Venice, Leonardo was given the task of coming up with solutions to defend the city against Turkish military advances in Europe. To relax after his long travels, he visited the Servite monks at Santissima Annunziata monastery in Florence, where he stayed in 1500 as a guest of the monks.
Leonardo found work with Cesare Borgia, a member of a powerful family and the commander of the Papal army, in 1502. His military job was as an engineer, and he travelled throughout Italy with Borgia. He was responsible for things like drawing maps to help with military planning, building a dam to provide an endless supply of water, and constructing canals. He met Niccolò Machiavelli while working on the dam project in Florence. Machiavelli was a famous observer of politics in the city at the time. It is claimed that Leonardo introduced Machiavelli to the ideas of applied science, and that this man, whose work formed the foundation of modern political science, was much influenced by Leonardo.
Upon his return to Florence in 1503, Leonardo was treated like a star and was again accepted into the Guild of St. Luke. This brought about the artist’s most productive painting period including preliminary work on his Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (1503-19), which was later copied by the artist Peter Paul Rubens. The artist’s work during this period included the Mona Lisa (1503-19), the unfinished Battle of Anghiari (1503-05), and various other famous paintings.
During those five years, Leonardo was supported by the French Governor of Milan, Charles d’Amboise, and King Louis XII. Leonardo’s life was filled with scientific work, including investigations in anatomy, mathematics, mechanics, botany, and inventing his famed flying machine. Charles’ Villa, many bridge-building projects, and a proposal to construct a canal to connect Milan with Lake Como are just a few of the noteworthy commissions undertaken in the next decade. Besides inventing the machine gun, he also invented the big crossbow, which became renowned and defined him.
During this period, Leonardo met his apprentice Francesco Melzi, who remained his close friend and helper until Leonardo’s death. At this time in his life and work, Leonardo may have been able to quietly live as a homosexual man, having finally achieved both professional success and accolades which might protect him from suffering the kinds of career setbacks and personal persecution he had endured in his youth.
Late Life 1513-1519
Leonardo moved to Rome for three years after being expelled by the French, who were in Milan at the time. François I, the French king, gave him a job as “first painter and engineer” in the French Royal Court after discovering him. It was decided to place him in Clos Lucé, just beside the Château d’Amboise, so he might stay near to the king. In addition to being an excellent patron for Leonardo in his latter years (demanding little of him), François I was also known to be a close friend of the artist. According to Vasari, the king regularly and lovingly visited him.
Although Leonardo didn’t paint as much in these last years, he used them to organise his scientific papers and notes, with his last picture, St. John the Baptist (1513), being the one notable exception. This collection of notebooks documents a career of remarkable investigations in many fields, and it’s his most lasting legacy. He became known as a genius because his theories and views on many disciplines and topics including architecture, mathematics, engineering, physics, human anatomy, and art, painting, drawing, and Humanism are astounding. Leonardo died in 1519 and left all of his possessions to his close friend Francesco Melzi, designating him as the primary beneficiary of his art and scientific estates. He gave half of his vines to Salai and split the other half amongst his two brothers.
The fact that French monarch François I was at Leonardo’s bedside when he passed is a testimony to the respect Leonardo garnered throughout his lifetime. Leonardo “breathed [his] last in the arms of the king.” according to Vasari. Their epic relationship was the inspiration for the Ingres picture, in which Leonardo da Vinci died in the arms of François I.
In the French Revolution, the chapel in which Leonardo had been buried at the Chateau d’Amboise in the Loire Valley, France, was demolished. It is unknown whether he was really reburied at the chapel of St. Hubert Amboise, but such is the assumption.
Leonardo da Vinci’s multi-faceted skill is difficult to sum up in a few words. He had worked to create methods which, in the eyes of many, represented perfection. The new realism his work pioneered used several new techniques, including the innovative “sfumato” and “chiaroscuro” styles, where light and dark values are in balance, as well as the unusual vanishing point, where a subject becomes more ill-defined as distance from the viewer increases. In the time of the High Renaissance, he brought painting out of the Dark Ages in the West. His religious and portrait work were mostly painted in that time period, and that’s what he was known for. However, his real impact on Western art was in his use of methods and exceptional composition. To put it in perspective, to this day, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa are two of the most famous paintings in the world, featuring in many advertisements and prints that nearly everyone knows and will recognise.
However, is his work as an anatomist, topographer, draughtsman, and engineer all to be forgotten? Leonardo’s thoughts are evident through his many ideas, although many were ahead of their time, and could not be created. Just with his anatomical drawings and his many achievements in mechanical engineering, such as the mitred lock, his contributions to precise timekeeping, and the bobbin winder, his contribution to local industry had an instant effect with his bobbin winder. His examination of strengthening army weaponry gave rise to the tanks and machine guns that we see every day. He was, without a doubt, the first “Renaissance man.” in history.
“Who awoke too early in the darkness, while the others were all still asleep.” as Sigmund Freud remarked of him.
Famous Art by Leonardo da Vinci
Virgin of the Rocks 1483-1486
The Madonna is accompanied by infant representations of Christ and John the Baptist, as well as the archangel Gabriel, in this picture. The quartet is set in a mystical, imagined world that demonstrates Leonardo’s mastery of perspective depth. The fully conceived setting of lonely rocks and water, when juxtaposed with the intimate group in the front, offers a dreamlike character, filling the viewer with a sensation of merging with the celestial as well as experiencing a resonant experience of human-like love. The patron saint of Florence, St. John, was shown prominently in this work. He was a playmate of Christ, according to Florentine legend, but he was also aware of Christ’s impending sacrifice for humanity. Leonardo, like other artists of the time, was interested in humanising the secular by portraying well-known religious narratives in an un-idealized manner. This painting has had a huge impact. Some of the paintings derived to some degree from the work, according to author Angela Ottino della Chiesa, include Bernardino Luini’s Holy Family and St. John, Marco d’Oggiono’s Thuelin Madonna, and Joos van Cleve’s Holy Infants Embracing. Quentin Matsys, a Flemish artist, has also imitated the image.
Lady with an Ermine 1489-1490
This portrait was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Ceclia Gallerani, Sforza’s sixteen-year-old mistress, is depicted in it by Leonardo. She looks to the right, as though something happening just outside the painting’s frame has captured her attention. In striking contrast to her age, she has a composed knowing look on her face. The slightly sly smile seems to indicate her confidence in her position at the Court, as well as her understanding of the power of her beauty. She is holding an ermine, which has the same fur as Sforza’s coat of arms, which was added to the portrait afterwards at the subject’s request. The ermine’s contradiction is that it is also a symbol of purity, worn by a young woman who fell subject to an older man’s carnal desires in a chauvinistic era. Other interpretations, on the other hand, say that the ermine represents Cecilia’s devotion to the Duke.
The Vitruvian Man 1485
A man in two superimposed positions is depicted in Vitruvian Man. The man’s legs are together in one position, while his arms are outstretched in another, demonstrating the volume of a square. The man’s legs are spread out in the second position, while his arms are extended to show the diameter of a circle. The colouring and precise painting of details like the hair lends a three-dimensional graphic aspect to the drawing.
The Vitruvian Man is actually a mathematical study of the human body that emphasises the nature of balance that proportion and symmetry provide, an insight that would inform all of Leonardo’s prolific works, including art, architecture, and other fields. It also pays homage to Renaissance Humanism, which saw man as a link between the earthly (square) and the divine (circular) (circle.) It mixes the great thinker’s scientific understanding with his drafting prowess.
The Last Supper 1489
The Last Supper was commissioned for the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. It is based on the well-known account of Jesus’ last lunch with his disciples before his crucifixion, notably the moment when he told them that one of them would betray him. As Judas stands in the shadows clutching the purse holding the thirty pieces of silver he received for his betrayal, each of the apostles is individually represented in varied emotions of astonishment, incredulity, and wonder. Jesus is seated in the centre, reaching for a piece of bread and a goblet of wine, alluding to the Eucharist. The idealised scenery behind him, seen through the windows, may allude to celestial paradise, and the three windows may represent the holy trinity.
Mona Lisa 1503
Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine merchant named Francesco del Gioconda, is thought to be the subject of the Mona Lisa, also known as La Gioconda. The woman is seated in a chair with one arm resting on the chair and the other resting on her arm in this creative half-length representation. The use of sfumato provides a soothing peacefulness that comes from her, as well as a deep realism in the surrounding environment. The use of chiaroscuro in this painting gives a sense of depth that keeps the viewer’s gaze moving over the canvas. But it’s her mysterious smile, as well as the mystery of what’s behind that famous smile, that draws the audience in.
For a variety of reasons, this work is one of Leonardo’s most famous. Prior to this time, portraits focused on displaying the sitter’s external look, with the subject’s personality only hinted at through symbolic objects, dress, or gestures. However, Leonardo’s goal in this painting was to portray more than just a likeness. He intended to show a glimpse of her soul, which he did by focusing his attention on her very unique smile. She isn’t just smiling for the artist; she is engrossed in a certain emotional state. The audience is left to speculate as to what she was thinking, what her grin meant, and who she was. The work’s uncertain expression enables us to connect with it on a personal level, as we identify with the extremely humanist description of being caught in the middle of an emotion. The landscape has a role in conveying this sense of soulfulness as well. There has been much discussion about its origins and location, but it is more usually assumed that it is fictitious, a made-up collection from Leonardo’s mind that could potentially relate to our entry into Mona Lisa’s surreal mental world.
For the previous five hundred years, since it was produced, this painting has been regarded in great regard and surrounded by awe. It has also influenced many artists. In 1504 Raphael used it for a drawing. Countless writers have written about her, including the 19th-century French poet Theophile Gautier, who referred to her as “the sphinx who smiles so mysteriously.” From Eugene Bataille’s caricature of the Mona Lisa smoking a pipe in 1883 to Marcel Duchamp’s readymade of her with a moustache and beard in 1919, it has been repeatedly mocked. Salvador Dal’s Self-portrait as Mona Lisa was completed in 1954, and Andy Warhol incorporated her in his famous silkscreen output with Mona Lisa “Thirty are better than one.” in 1963. In today’s popular culture markets, her image has been continually repeated on many prints, posters, and commercial products.
BULLET POINTED (SUMMARISED)
Best for Students and a Huge Time Saver
- Humanism was in popularity during the Italian High Renaissance, in which artists were intellectually invested in self-improvement and worldliness.
- A man who has engaged himself in a variety of hobbies, such as poetry and music, would become known as a “Renaissance man.”
- Leonardo da Vinci is widely known as the very first representative of this phrase.
- Even though his boundless curiosity gave him knowledge in many areas, his works have been hailed as some of the best in the history of art.
- His famous works are still being researched and looked up to today. Leonardo was an intellectual savant: His skill was multi-disciplinary and included subjects ranging from invention to literature.
- Learning will never bore him, he says. Leonardo da Vinci is mainly known as a painter, even though he did extensive research into many disciplines.
- His artistic output includes some of the most recognisable works of all time, such as his famed Mona Lisa, which has been imitated and plagiarised repeatedly, as well as The Last Supper, a widely reproduced religious image, and Vitruvian Man, an early drawing focused on both spatial and anatomical symmetry. Leonardo developed methods and approaches from Early Renaissance artists including linear perspective, chiaroscuro, realism, and emotional expressionism that helped inspire the art of the High Renaissance.
- His skill in blending his glazes, as well as his careful accuracy, resulted in his paintings appearing as if his subjects were alive and living in the canvas. Leonardo’s forward-thinking, unorthodox mindset helped him come up with cutting-edge inventions and ideas that others took a long time to emulate.
- It’s said that he made the initial designs for the parachute, helicopter, and military tank, and is credited with that achievement.
- Artists, academics, and scientists across the globe continue to investigate and study these objects today.
Born: April 15, 1452
Died: May 2, 1519
Information Citations
En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.
