Leonardo Da Vinci as one of the greatest and most ingenious men that history has produced Essay Example For Students

Leonardo Da Vinci as one of the greatest and most ingenious men that history has produced Essay 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 Leonardos talents. Upon the realization of Leonardos potential, his father took the boy to live with him and his wife in Florence Why did. This was the start of the boys 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 Verrocchios 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 painters guild of Florence, and worked there for about six years. While there, Leonardo often painted portions of Verrocchios paintings for him, such as the background and the kneeling angel on the left in the Baptism of Christ Encarta. Leonardos 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. Leonardos 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. Leonardos leading skills emerged through his paintings and his techniques. Leonardos 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 Ludovicos 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 Dukes 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 Dukes 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. History of Culinary Arts EssayThis painting was one of Leonardos 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 Leonardos 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 Leonardos 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. Leonardos 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 wouldnt 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 Leonardos 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.