The "STEAM" Genius Ahead

Of His Time

Created for Patterson Art Awareness

by Liz Beutel

The True RENAISSANCE Man

1452-1519

Meet Leonardo Da Vinci-Little Leo

Born in 1492 in the town of Vinci in Italy.

By the age of 8, he and his family moved to Florence, Italy where he got the best education possible.

At 14 years old, he was an apprentice for Verrocchio, the famous Italian sculptor and painter.

Leonardo used what he learned from his studies of nature to make his paintings look realistic .

He designed these angel wings from his studies of birds.

Leonardo's wing sketch The Annunciation, 1475-1480, Uffizi Florence

Leonardo Da Vinci- Early Years

By 20 years old, Leonardo helped Verrocchio, his teacher, finish this painting by creating the Angel.

Leonardo's angel was thought to be the most realistic and best part of painting by many in Florence.

Do you see the difference? Look how soft the Angels skin looks by how he blended his paint colors.

After this painting, Leonardo was seen as a gifted artist and gained his own commissions for paintings.

Baptism of Christ by Verrocchio

Leonardo's Angel

In 1492, the Duke of Milan, Italy commissioned Leonardo to create the largest equestrian (horse) bronze sculpture.

Because he was a SCIENTIST, Leonardo studied, measured, and drew horses over and over to get the correct proportions and anatomy.

It took him 10 years to collect enough tin and copper for the bronze cast, 58,000 lbs! He completed a 24 foot clay model for the casting process.

Unfortunately, the Duke took all of Leonardo's metal to make a cannon for his army.

Leonardo Da Vinci- Science & Anatomy

Leonardo's Sketches of Horses

Leonardo Da Vinci- Science & Anatomy

Leonardo's Horse finished by Charles Dent, 1999

In 1499, French military entered Milan and the huge 24 foot clay model was shot with arrows and destroyed.

Leonardo never attempted the project again and was said to never get over the loss of his horse sculpture.

Almost 500 years later, an American retired airline pilot, Charles Dent, collected and admired DaVinci's Art and inventions, used DaVinci's scientific horse sketches and paid for the bronze sculpture to be made and gifted it to Milan in 1999.

Charles Dent's 24 foot clay model for casting

Leonardo Da Vinci-Technology & Engineer

WATER LIFT

LANDING GEAR

MACHINE GUN

THREAD CUTTER

CROSSBOW

CATAPAULT

Inclined plane

Inclined plane

Screw

Wedge

Wheel & Axel

Pulley & Lever

Leonardo was one of the most creative genius! Look at all of his inventions he created using simple machines and because of his amazing drawings and scientific recordings in journals, we can see how advanced he was! Let’s try to match Leonardo’s invention to sketch (guess 1st, then “right arrow” for answer)

Leonardo Da Vinci-Artist of Masterpieces and Mystery

Raise your hand if you’ve seen this masterpiece before? Guess who the Master Artist is who created it ?

Does anyone know this mystery woman’s name?

The Mona Lisa, 1503-1507, The Louvre Museum in Paris, France

It is written that this was Leonardo’s favorite painting and held on to it for years. Finally he sold it to the King of France for 4,000 gold crowns!

Her smile and identity are part of the mystery. Some say she was a widowed Duchess of Milan since she has a “widow’s veil” on her head and dressed in black. She is not the typical paintings of fancy, jeweled women at this time. Why do you think she is smiling?

Leonardo Da Vinci-Mathematician

Did you know many famous artists are also mathematicians or scientists? The same holds true for Leonardo too.

This is another masterpiece by Leonardo DaVinci called The Last Supper. Notice the use of perspective (all planes moving back in space to 1 point on the horizon line) and proportions in thirds.

The Last Supper, 1494-1498Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan Italy

Vitruvian Man (edited for school) - A study of ideal human proportions in relation to the geometry of a circle and square and relative to humans within architecture proportions.

Leonardo Da Vinci-Inventions of the Future

DaVnci’s Mechanical Wing Device-ca. 1485

Leonardo was particularly interested in flight and studied birds and their wing pattern. He drew wing structures over and over to develop his own mechanics for flying machines.

Unfortunately, only few of his inventions come to fruition in his time. Do you think this was because of the money needed?

Central Framework for Human PoweredOmithoper – ca. 1485

Helicopter designs– ca. 1485

Leonardo Da Vinci-Creativity Beyond His Time

DaVinci’s Sketchbooks or “CODEX”

DaVinci’s Areal View Map he created forThe Popes’ son, Cesare Borgia while Italy was at war with France in 1502. A map was extremely rare during this time periodand seen as a huge military advantage!Cesare hired Leonardo as chief military Engineer and Architect!

What if Davinci had only practiced STEM? Science, Technology, Engineering and Math?If he had NOT practiced his Artistic skills over and over, recording his ideas and inventions through art, WE would have never known what a creative genius he was! Also due to of his amazing artistic skills, hehelped the arts gain importance byintegrating them with functional uses in society. Luckily, he was well balanced at STEAM- Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math.

Leonardo Da Vinci-Review Questions

Statue of Leonardo Da Vinci outside the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy

"Leonardo da Vinci was like a man who awoke too early in the darkness, while

the others were all still asleep" -Sigmund Freud

What do you feel is the most important invention Leonardo sketched? Why? Give evidence to support your idea.

Did you develop a unique design? What is the problem you have solved with your invention?

What part of Leonardo’s life would you like to learn more of? Scientific? Technology? Engineer? Artist? Mathematician?

Can you finish your 3-d version of your idea? Send us pictures at thebaziles@aol.com!