Leonardo Da Vinci
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Transcript of Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci – A Phenomenon
Da Vinci is one of the most celebrated figures in the history of art. Not merely
an artist, he was also an engineer, a mathematician, an inventor and a
botanist. He was also a splendid musician; evident from the fact that he made
into the court of Milan as a Lyre player not an artist. The man is epitome of
brilliance when it comes to his work. His arts, innovations and inventions are
one of a kind. Much is not known about him or his works and at the same time
far too much is known about him; so much so that it’s clearly impossible to
separate the myth from the reality.
www.biography.com
Biography:
Leonardo da Vinci was born to Ser Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a notary
public from Florence, and Catarina, a farm worker, near Anchiano in Tuscany,
Italy on the fifteenth of April, 1452 (Wiki, Leonardo da Vinci, 2015). Since his
parents were not married to each other, Leonardo was brought up by his
father before he moved to Vinci, Italy, at the age of 5, where he lived with his
paternal uncles and grandparents.
Da Vinci did not attend school, but did begin an art apprenticeship with famed
artist Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence when he turned 14, where he gained
skills in a wide variety of arts ranging from drawing to sculpting. His earliest
known artwork was a drawing by pen of the Arno valley in 1473. He joined the
Guild of St. Luke at the age of 20 but his new, independent workshop did not
receive a commission until 5 years later, which was for an altar piece for a
chapel in the Palazzo Vecchio. In 1481, he received another commission for a
painting from the monks of San Donato a Scopeto, but left Florence without
completing either of these jobs because of criminal charges he faced.
In 1482, da Vinci was contacted by the ruler of Florence to create a lyre (a kind
of Greek harp) out of silver as a peace offering to the acting ruler of Milan at
the time, Ludovico Sforza. After completing this task, da Vinci sent a letter
containing innovative designs for war machinery to Sforza, asking for a job in
Milan. The designs for devices such as manned armoured tanks got him
employed by Sforza for 17 years.
During his stay in Milan, da Vinci studied the sciences in depth, with a great
emphasis on human anatomy, dissecting human corpses in order to draw
detailed diagrams of various body parts. He also gained knowledge in physics,
botany and aeronautics. His famous works were made during this period,
including Virgin of the Rocks (1483), The Last Supper (1495) and the Vitruvian
Man. He was working on a 16-foot tall bronze statue of Francesco Sforza,
founder of the Sforza ruling clan, when the French invaded Milan, forcing him
to flee in 1499. (Biography.com, 2015)
He returned to Florence in 1502 where he worked briefly as an engineer in the
armed forces of Pope Alexander VI. He surveyed military construction sites and
drew maps for the army before he painted the very well-known Mona Lisa in
1503, whose subject is as much a mystery as its smile.
Da Vinci returned to Milan in 1506 to work for the French rulers he had fled
from in 1499. He devoted more time to studying the sciences in this period and
was commissioned by Trivulzio, the French ruler, to build a statue to stand
atop his grave, a task that was never finished. After Trivulzio’s death, difficult
times followed, causing da Vinci to travel to Rome in 1513, where he was given
residence in the Vatican and a monthly income by the brother of the new Pope
Leo X.
In this era, very few tasks were given to him so he pursued mathematical
studies. In 1515, he was given the job of ‘Premier Painter, Architect and
Engineer to the King’ by the French king, Francis I, and he moved to a place
near the king’s summer house in Amboise before he died on the second of
May, 1519. His estate was inherited by Melzi, a worker in da Vinci’s studio and
his personal assistant.
Interesting Facts about da Vinci:-
1. Leonardo destroyed most of his work. Hardly was any of his work fully
completed.
2. Leonardo was an eccentric and a procrastinator. At times he would paint
continuously for hours at others he would only make two or three strokes
the entire day.
3. Leonardo was left-handed. As a matter of fact he was ambidextrous i.e. he
could write with both hands… And at the same time! He was also dyslexic
meaning he could write in reverse order i.e. he was an expert at mirror
writing. So with left hand da Vinci drew and with his right he wrote in
reverse order and he did both simultaneously.
4. Leonardo designed many “weapons of war”. He was the first to design an
armoured car, a scythed chariot, repeating rifle, a pile driver, a revolving
crane, a pulley, a lagoon dredge, and a flying ship.
5. War wasn’t his only expertise. He also designed/sketched many
“constructive” objects such as parachute, helicopter, aeroplane, swinging
bridge, paddleboat and motorcar.
6. His inventions, considering his era, are dazzling. He invented the bicycle 300
years prior its availability to the public. He was also the one to invent
hydraulic pumps and inflatable tubes (to help float on water).
7. Leonardo was the first one to explain why the sky is blue. He was also the
first to study in detail the phases of moon.
8. One of the reasons he dug fresh corpses out of their graves was to find out
where exactly is the soul located in the body!
Mona Lisa:
Leonardo da Vinci’s most celebrated work is his masterpiece – Mona Lisa.
Mona or Monna, compact form of Madonna, is a highly respectable salutation
in Italian meaning Madame or milady. The Italians prefer to use the spellings
“Monna” since “Mona” is a disrespectful word in some accents. The most
probable subject of the painting is a French woman Lisa Gherardini, the wife of
Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy Florentine silk merchant. This is logical
since del Giocondo himself commissioned the painting. Nevertheless, it has
been a subject of great controversies.
Da Vinci started the painting in 1503 and completed it in 1506. Later he kept
refining it till 1517. It is an oil painting on a white poplar panel. The size of this
portrait is 30 inches x 21 inches and weighs only 18 pounds. It is present in
Louvre Museum Paris since 1797. The painting being priceless definitely needs
to be guarded. It is placed behind a bulletproof glass compartment. The
temperature and humidity of the compartment is also controlled to preserve
the masterpiece inside.
The painting was one of the first to depict the sitter in front of an imaginary
background. While portraying the colour perspectives through the painting, da
Vinci keeps the distant background more bluer which is aesthetically quite
pleasing.
Sfumato is a hallmark of Da Vinci’s art, a concordant invention. Sfumato is a
hallmark of Da Vinci’s art, a concordant invention. Sfumato is derived from an
Italian word “fumo” which means “fume”. So “sfumato” means “something
that is not clear i.e. vague or blurred”. Sfumato, one of the four Renaissance
techniques, is an artistic technique in which the artist doesn’t draw any visible,
distinguishing boundaries. Da Vinci added blurred shadow edges to the
painting. In fact the subject face and body is enclosed within a shadow and yet
it appears edgy. The “figure” is almost merging with the background in “colors”
and “tones”. The absence of boundaries is very obvious in two regions
primarily, the corners of the eyes and the corners of the face.
Mona Lisa is sitting facing slightly away from the user. Furthermore her right
arm lies across her stomach. It was not a very common aspect of those days.
Having stolen in 1911 from Louvre, the masterpiece caused much stir across
the globe. Previously it had been taken to France by Napoleon and the very
reason, the “celebrated art-piece” art-thief, Peruggia gave was the patriotic
concern as he wanted to bring it back to Italy.
Despite the fact that no one till date has been able to figure out the real cause
of its fame. There have been a couple of opinions in this regard. To quote a
great critic Cuzin, it would be wholesome to say, “The subject in Mona Lisa is
not beautiful and painting does not have much color. The painting does not
have much to offer to our visual delight yet it is so famous. The problem is that
She has become so famous that we “do not see her” anymore. The actual thing
is to see the “Mona Lisa” for the first time, as if it had not been seen or known
before.
Interesting Facts and belief:-
1. The subject of the painting is a highly debatable matter. Although most
believe it to be Lisa Gherardini but some say that it is a modified self
portrait of the artist.
2. Leonardo da Vinci spent almost ten years just to paint the lips of Mona Lisa!
3. A French scientist, Pascal Cotte, discovered that there is another hidden
portrait behind the external one by Light Amplification Method (LAM). After
reconstructing the layers found underneath the surface of the Mona Lisa,
Cotte claims that she is a totally different woman. Studies have found that
there are actually three different layers before the current layer. In one
version has her hands are holding her arms not the chair in front of her. In
another, Mona Lisa’s smile is not an element of the painting. (McAloon,
2015)
4. The fact that Mona Lisa doesn’t have eye-brows is also a very intriguing
matter. Some say that in those days it was a fashion for women to pluck out
all there facial hair (eye-brows and eye-lashes). However some researchers,
like Pascal Cotte, claim that originally she had eye-brows as well as eye-
lashes. The most plausible explanation is that they got wiped away when
the picture was being cleaned since these were very dim to begin with.
5. Cotte also discovered many other things with Laser techniques. These
include: (Bryner, 2007)
i. The presence of Lace on her dress.
ii. The presence of an invisible (transparent) veil on her head.
iii. The interchanged positions of her left index and middle finger.
iv. Her smallest left finger was never completed.
v. A rock was once thrown at the painting which result in a permanent
damage hence the area around her left elbow was repaired.
vi. The blotch marks on corners of eyes and face are “varnish accidents” not
sfumato!
vii. The blanket atop Lisa’s knees also covers her stomach in the lower layers.
The Last Supper:-
This is one of the most wondrous paintings ever and is also one of Da Vinci’s
masterpieces. The painting was commenced around 1495 and was completed
(apparently) in three years. This is evidently a very long time. Many claim that
this is due to the artist’s habit of slacking off. It is stated that at times he would
work continuously for the entire day. At others he would not make a stroke for
days. When complained to he responded that the delay was owing to the fact
that he could not find the right “face” to depict Judas. (Leonardo/Supper)
Wikipedia da Vinci: The Last Supper
The painting depicts a biblical scene, mentioned in the Gospel of John, of the
Last Supper of Jesus before his “attempted” crucifixion. The painting captures
the exact moment when Jesus told his disciples at the Supper that one of them
would betray him. (Gospel of John, 13:21) Horror and shock is quite obvious on
their faces.
The painting contains twelve visible apostles. These 12 apostles (from viewer’s
right) include Simon, Thaddeus, Matthew, Philip, James the Greater, Thomas,
John, Peter, Judas, Andrew, James the Lesser, Bartholomew. In biblical text,
Judas is the man who betrayed his master. The picture depicts him as a vicious
and evil looking man. He is the only one with his elbow placed on the table. He
is carrying a sac in his hands which people believe is payment given to him for
his consent to desertion. (Puchko, 2015)
The painting is a kind of mural painting i.e. painted directly on wall. It is
painted on a wall of Monastery of “Santa Maria delle Grazie” in Milan, Italy.
The original painting is roughly 15 inches tall and 29 inches wide i.e. a
landscape view.
The painting is painted with the help of “tempera” – a special kind of paint
made with an emulsion of substance like egg with water – on a stone wall. The
traditional method of painting on stone walls is called “fresco” which is actually
painting with water-colours on a surface lapped with “wet” plaster. The former
was an experiment by da Vinci but was not very successful. Da Vinci did not
agree to the latter method because it required swiftness, not one of his strong
points. (Suttle, 2015)
Within a century much of the painting started to flake off due to
environmental aspects. Quite a few times in history renovation attempts have
been made (latest being completed in 1999 (Wiki, The Last Supper, 2015)); so-
much-so that the painting can hardly be claimed as a Leonardo’s handiwork
now. Apart from this, the 2nd World War was another factor accounting to the
distortion of the image. The painting itself was not damaged but much of the
building it is situated in was razed.
If observed carefully, one can see that a great piece at the central bottom part
of the painting is missing. This happened as a result of maintenance work at
the convent in which a door was installed at that part of the wall.
Interesting Facts and Beliefs:-
1. There is an interesting belief that all the disciples in the painting have been
modelled after a real person. Many claim that James the Lesser is the self-
portrait of Da Vinci. (Suttle, 2015) Others claim that Judas, in the painting,
was imaged after a highly repugnant looking criminal. (Puchko, 2015)
2. Another interesting claim is that there is a “hidden” 13th apostle in the
image, a short man in the shadows between Peter and Andrew. Further
they claim that John as depicted in the painting is not John but is actually
Mary Magdalene (a staunch believer). (Shea, 2015) Hence this 13th
mysterious man ought to be John.
Virgin of the Rocks:-
The Virgin of the Rocks (also called the Madonna of the Rocks) is one of the
masterpieces of Leonardo Da Vinci. He made this portrait in the period
between 1483 and 1488. He made use of the oil on panel technique to make
this.
There are two version of this artwork. One is the Louvre version which is
thought to be entirely of Da Vinci. It is present in Paris. Dimensions of this
portrait are 78in x 48in (roughly 199cm x 122cm). Second one is the London
version. Da Vinci made it with the help of his assistant. It is present in National
Gallery, London for exhibition. The size of this portrait is 75in x 45in (roughly
189cm x 120 cm). (Wiki, The Last Supper, 2015)
Paris (Louvre) Verion London (National Gallery) Version
This artwork was made on belief that Christ was conceived without original sin
on Mary’s part. This was a burning issue at that time and Leonardo was
required to convey virgin’s purity.
Characters of this portrait are Madonna (Holy Mary), Archangel Gabriel, Jesus
Christ and infant John the Baptist. (He is referred to as Yahya in Arabic. He was
son of Zakariyah and a Prophet of God). This painting depicts important story
of that time that Jesus met John the Baptist who is in protection of Archangel
Uriel. Both were on the move to eradicate killing of the innocent. As John paid
tribute to Christ he was blessed and baptism was expected.
Plants in the portrait were taken from nature. Leonardo carefully selected
them from the nature according to their symbolic meanings like Cymbal aria is
meant for virtue and constancy. Heart-shaped leaves represent love. Palm tree
is a symbol of victory. Dove plants beside Madonna Mary’s face represent Holy
Spirit. This portrait is a beautiful depiction of thinking of a society on a plate.
Interesting Facts:-
1. Both the London version and the Paris version are slightly different. In the
London version, Uriel is not “pointing”.
2. The theme of the painting being a highly disputed religious topic created a
lot of fuss and conflict which lasted for a long time. (History, 2012)
Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk:-
Leonardo da Vinci was considered as the greatest artist of his era. The
portrait of a man in red chalk is supposed to be a self-portrait of Leonardo da
Vinci. It has also been criticised by a number of scholars and historians that this
painting was not made by Da Vinci himself.
The painting is present in “Biblioteca Reale” (Royal Library) Turin, Italy. The
size of the original painting is 13in x 8in (roughly 33cm x 21cm). The portrait is
painted with red chalk on paper (Wiki, Leonardo da Vinci Self-portrait, 2015). It
was painted between 1510 and 1512, when he was living in France. Leonardo
da Vinci made self-portrait when he was aged between fifty and sixty.
It is not commonly viewable by general public because its condition has
become greatly deteriorated with the passage of time (Wiki, Leonardo da Vinci
Self-portrait, 2015). Just like every painting of Leonardo da Vinci, it has been
painted in fine lines, shadowed (use of sfumato technique) and completed with
left hand.
The painting depicts the face of an old man. The face is turned towards viewer
but his eyes do not gaze directly at the viewer. His eyes seemed to be looking
somewhere ahead. The portrait shows eagle like nose of Leonardo da Vinci.
The old man shown in the portrait, has long white hair. The old man also has a
long white beard which is flowing down his chest. This portrait shows Leonardo
da Vinci's wisdom and prudence. In his time long hair and beard were not very
common and were considered as symbols of prudence and intelligence.
Interesting Facts and Beliefs:-
1. Though many believe it to be a self-portrait, but there are still claims that it
is not a Leonardo himself at all. Researchers like Robert Pain and Martin
Kemp (Wiki, Leonardo da Vinci Self-portrait, 2015) assert that this can’t be
Leonardo since he died at an early age. The man in the portrait appears
very old. Suggestions are that this could be his father Piero or his uncle
Francesco.
2. The portrait was claimed to have “magical powers”. During the time of
World War II it was transferred to Rome and hidden there. This was done in
order to prevent Hitler fro, gaining magical powers through the painting.
Bibliography (2011). Retrieved from http://www.leonardodavinci.net/self-portrait.jsp
Biography.com. (2015). Leonardo da Vicni Biography . Retrieved from The Biography.com website :
www.biography.com
Bryner, J. (2007). 25 Secrets of Mona Lisa Revealed. Retrieved from Live Science:
http://www.livescience.com/4648-25-secrets-mona-lisa-revealed.html
(n.d.). Gospel of John, 13:21. In Gospel of John, 13:21 (p. 13:21).
History, T. (2012). Totally History. Retrieved from Madonna of the Rocks:
http://totallyhistory.com/madonna-of-the-rocks/
Leonardo/Supper. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.lairweb.org.nz:
http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/supper.html
McAloon, J. (2015). The Missing Mona Lisa. Retrieved from http://www.apollo-magazine.com/the-
missing-mona-lisa/
Puchko, K. (2015). 15 Things You Should Know About 'The Last Supper'. Retrieved from Mental Floss:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/64372/15-things-you-should-know-about-last-supper
Shea, L. (2015). www.lisashea.com. Retrieved from Minerva Webworks LLC:
http://www.lisashea.com/hobbies/art/missing.html
Suttle, T. (2015). 10 Stunning Facts About Davinci’s Last Supper. Retrieved from Patheos Labs
Website: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/paperbacktheology/2015/04/10-stunning-facts-
about-davincis-last-supper-for-maundy-thursday.html
Wiki. (2015). Leonardo da Vinci. Retrieved from wikipedia.org:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci
Wiki. (2015). Leonardo da Vinci Self-portrait. Retrieved from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_a_Man_in_Red_Chalk
Wiki. (2015). The Last Supper. Retrieved from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo_da_Vinci)