Leonardo da Vinci

April 15, 1452
Vinci, Italy
May 2, 1519
Amboise, France

Painter, scientist

"As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death."

Leonardo da Vinci in The Notebooks quoted on The Quotations Page. [Online] Available http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes.php3?author=Leonardo+da+Vinci, April 5, 2002.

One of the greatest figures of the Renaissance was the painter Leonardo da Vinci. Known as Leonardo, he was considered the ideal "Renaissance man," an individual whose talents spanned a variety of subjects. He was an innovator in the fields of both art and science, uniquely combining these two activities as he investigated the world around him. Although he completed relatively few paintings, he played a crucial role in creating and shaping the art of the High Renaissance (1495–1520), the period when Renaissance culture reached its height in Italy. He was also interested in architecture, sculpture, and urban planning, though he is not known to have done work in these areas. Leonardo had an enormous influence on other artists, and his achievements were admired by such great Renaissance painters as Michelangelo (1475–1564; see entry) and Raphael (1483–1520; see entry).

Perfects his own style

Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, near the village of Vinci about twenty-five miles west of Florence. He was the illegitimate (born out of wedlock) son of Piero da Vinci, a prominent notary (one who records legal documents) of Florence, and Caterina, a peasant girl. Piero had no other children until much later and he raised his son himself, a common practice at the time. He arranged for Caterina to marry a local villager. In 1467, at age fifteen, Leonardo was apprenticed (sent to learn a craft, trade, or profession) to Andrea del Verrocchio (1435–1488), the leading artist in Florence, which was then the center of the Renaissance. Verrocchio was a sculptor, painter, and goldsmith noted for his craftsmanship. Leonardo stayed on as an assistant in Verrocchio's shop after completing his apprenticeship. His earliest known painting is a product of his collaboration (working together) with the master. In 1472 Leonardo joined the Compagnia di San Luca, or painters guild, in Florence. (A guild was a professional organization that supervised the training of craftsmen.)

In Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ (c. 1475), Leonardo executed one of the two angels as well as the distant landscape. He also added the final touches to the figure of Jesus Christ (name for Jesus of Nazareth, founder of Christianity), determining the texture of the flesh. Collaboration on a major project by a master artist and his assistant was standard procedure in the Italian Renaissance. Leonardo's work was special, however, because he did not follow the usual approach and produce a slightly less skilled version of Verrocchio's style. Instead, he perfected an original technique that altered his teacher's method. For instance, Leonardo suggested a new flexibility within the figures in Baptism of Christ. He accomplished this by changing hard metallic effects to soft yielding ones and increasing the slight changes in light and shade.

Around 1478 Leonardo set up his own studio. Three years later he received a church commission for an altarpiece (a work of art that decorates the space above an altar, a table used as the center of a worship service), the Adoration of the Magi. This unfinished painting depicts the story of the three Magi (kings), also known as the Wise Men of the East, told in the book of Matthew in the Bible (the Christian holy book). The Magi traveled to Bethlehem from the East (ancient Persia; present-day Iran) to pay homage to the newborn Jesus. The Adoration of the Magi had been a popular subject in art since the Middle Ages (a period lasting from around 400 to 1400). In his painting Leonardo showed a new approach with the depiction of human drama through a sense of continuing movement. A crowd of spectators, with odd and varied faces, flutters around and peers at Mary (mother of Jesus), who is holding the baby Jesus. In the background the three Magi are mounted on horses that prance among intricate architectural ruins. The painting also illustrates a strong sense of order. Traditionally, in paintings of this story Mary and Jesus appeared at one side of the picture and the Magi approached from the other side. Leonardo departed from tradition by placing Mary and Jesus in the center of the composition. He also used linear perspective to depict the ruins in the background. Also known as one-point perspective, linear perspective was invented by the Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi (pronounced

Masaccio: Father of Renaissance Painting

The Florentine painter Masaccio (pronounced mah-ZAHT-choh; Tommaso di Giovanni di Simone Guidi; 1401–1428) is considered the father of Renaissance painting. He was the first painter to utilize linear perspective (also known as one-point perspective). Invented by the Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi, linear perspective is a system derived from mathematics in which all elements of a composition are measured and arranged from a single point of view, or perspective. Masaccio was Brunelleschi's friend and may have learned linear perspective from him. Masaccio used the technique to achieve the effect of light coming from one direction and illuminating figures. Through the interplay of light and shadow, these figures seem to have three dimensions and exist in actual space. An equally important feature of this technique is that it gives the viewer a sense of looking at a scene along with the painter.

Masaccio's most celebrated work, dated 1425 to 1427, is a series of frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Camine in Florence. (A fresco is a wall painting that is made by first spreading moist lime plaster on the wall and then applying paint. Early Renaissance painters used tempera, a water-based paint made with egg yolks and color pigments, that is, substances containing color derived from plant or animal matter.) One scene, Expulsion from Paradise, depicts Adam and Eve as they are cast out of the Garden of Eden. The painting vividly portrays their profound remorse and anguish through their body language and facial expressions. Masaccio achieved this sense of human drama in all of his works. Although he only lived until the age of twenty-seven, he had a profound impact on the art world. Every major artist of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Florence started his career by studying Masaccio's murals.

broo-nail-LAYS-kee;1377–1446). It is a system derived from mathematics in which all elements of a composition are measured and arranged from a single point of view, or perspective. The Florentine artist Masaccio, known as the father of Renaissance painting, was the first to use linear perspective extensively (see accompanying box).

Moves to Milan

Leonardo left Florence in 1482 to accept the post of court artist to Ludovico Sforza (1452–1508), duke of Milan. His first Milanese painting was the altarpiece Virgin of the Rocks. Although the Virgin of the Rocks was highly original, Leonardo used the medieval tradition of showing Mary and Jesus in a cave. This gave him the opportunity to experiment with dimmed light, which is coming from two sources, one behind the cave and the other in front of it. (Leonardo once commented that an artist should practice drawing at dusk and in courtyards with walls painted black.) The technique highlights the four figures—Mary and Jesus and another woman and infant—in a soft, shadowy atmosphere. The distinctive feature of the painting is the pyramidal (pyramid shaped) grouping of the figures, which unifies the composition and focuses the eye of the viewer on the central scene.

The other surviving painting of Leonardo's years in Milan is the Last Supper (1497). It was commissioned by the duke for a wall in the refectory (dining hall) of the convent (a house for women who are dedicated to religious life) of Santa Maria delle Grazie. For this painting Leonardo decided not to use fresco, which makes areas of color appear distinct and does not allow for shading. Instead, he experimented with oil-based paint, which is more easily blended, but his efforts were unsuccessful. The paint did not adhere well to the wall, and within fifty years the scene was reduced to a confused series of spots. When the government of Milan was overthrown by the French invasion in 1499, Leonardo left Milan and returned to Florence.

Recognized as great painter

Leonardo was received as a great man in Florence. During his years in the city (1500–06), he completed more projects than in any other period of his life. In 1503 he was invited to paint a large-scale fresco that celebrated the Battle of Anghiara, in which Florence defeated Milan in 1440. The fresco was to be painted on the walls of the newly built Council Chamber of the Republic in the Palazzo della Signoria. For the Battle of Anghiara Leonardo experimented with an oil-based paint on a primed (prepared with a sealing substance) wall surface. This process proved to be ineffective because the paint did not dry. The central section of the composition, which was destroyed during a restoration project in 1565, is now known through numerous copies made in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As indicated in a copy made by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640; see entry) in 1615, Leonardo depicted the extreme physical exertion of men and horses engaged in furious battle. The group of central figures displays faces distorted by rage or pain. Even the heads of the horses, with flaring nostrils and gnashing teeth, were treated in this expressive manner. Shortly after Leonardo began the Battle of Anghiara his younger rival, Michelangelo, was commissioned to paint Battle of Cascina, another celebrated Florentine victory, for the same room in the Palazzo della Signoria.

In 1503, while working on the Battle of Anghiara Leonardo started painting the Mona Lisa. It is a portrait of Lisa di Anton Giocondo, the young wife of the prominent Florentine citizen Francesco del Giocondo. The Mona Lisa became one of the most famous portraits in the Western world because of Lisa's mysterious smile, which is in the process of either appearing or disappearing. Leonardo had abandoned the Anghiara project by 1508, when he was called back to Milan by Charles d'Amboise, the French governor. Leonardo worked on an equestrian (rider mounted on a horse) statue, but he produced no new paintings. Instead he turned more and more to scientific observation (see accompanying box). In 1513 the French were temporarily driven out of Milan and Leonardo moved to Rome. He received no other commissions, however, and at the end of 1516 he left Italy forever. He spent the last three years of his life at Amboise, France, in the small residence of Cloux (later called Clos-Lucé), near the summer palace of the king of France, Francis I (1494–1547; see entry). Given the title of Premier peintre, architecte et méchanicien du Roi (first painter, architect, and mechanic of the King), Leonardo lived as an honored guest of Francis I. Leonardo did no other major work, and he spent his time on his notebooks, in which he wrote about science and art theory (general ideas and criteria concerning the making of artworks).

Pursues interest in science

For Leonardo art theory was closely related to scientific investigation. Throughout most of his life he was immersed in the study of science. He was especially interested in studying anatomy (structure of the body) in order to understand the human form. In fact, he dissected cadavers (human corpses) so he could examine the function of muscles and to determine how the vocal cords produce sound. From the 1490s until 1515 Leonardo made extensive notes on his observations, including analytical drawings for illustrations in a treatise on anatomy, which he never completed.

Leonardo's Submarine

Leonardo designed many mechanical devises, including a submarine. He refused to share his ideas for this underwater mode of transportation—except to say that it involved a tube and wine skins or pieces of cork—because he feared it would be used for destructive purposes. Here is what Leonardo wrote about his submarine in his notebook:

How by an appliance many are able to remain for some time under water. How and why I do not describe my method of remaining under water for as long a time as I can remain without food; and this I do not publish or divulge on account of the evil nature of men who would practise assassinations at the bottom of the seas by breaking the ships in their lowest parts and sinking them together with the crews who are in them; although I will furnish particulars of others which are not dangerous, for above the surface of the water emerges the mouth of a tube by which they draw breath, supported upon wine skins or pieces of cork.

Source: Selections from the Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Irma A. Richter, editor. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977, pp. 96–97.

Leonardo also worked on several inventions. He designed many mechanical devises, such as a screw jack, a two-wheeled hoist, an "armored car," a gun with three racks of barrels, and even a submarine. He refused to share his ideas for a submarine, however, because he feared it would be used for destructive purposes. Leonardo's best-known invention was a flying machine, which he designed by observing birds in flight and the motions of air. He also mastered mathematics. For instance, he applied geometry and proportion to create a new sense of order in his drawings and paintings. He translated his study of optics and many of his theories of vision into mathematical terms. Leonardo used his knowledge of physical geography to investigate the origin of fossils and the utilization of water power.

Leonardo died at Cloux and was buried in the palace church of Saint-Florentin. But the church was devastated during the French Revolution (1789–99) and completely torn down at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Hence, his grave can no longer be located. Leonardo's assistant, Francesco Melzi, inherited his estate.

Influences other artists

Leonardo had considerable influence on artists of his own day and later times. Some of his views on art, which had been circulating since the sixteenth century, were published in 1651 in Trattato della pittura (Treatise on painting). This is a collection of his writings taken from numerous manuscripts. The small number of Leonardo's surviving paintings show his achievements as an artist. He made contributions to every artistic form, from portraits to religious narratives. He gave new insights into figure grouping, space, individual characterization, and light and shade. Many of his works inspired copies, especially by Milanese artists such as Andrea Solari (after 1495–1514) and Bernardo Luini (died 1532). In Florence his compositions were carefully studied by Raphael. Leonardo's Battle of Anghiari and Michelangelo's design for Battle of Cascina, were the "school for the world," in the words of Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571). Even in the nineteenth century, long after the Battle of Anghiari had disappeared, aspects of its design continued to intrigue artists throughout Europe.

For More Information

Books

Gelb, Michael. How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day. New York: Delacorte Press, 1998.

Lafferty, Peter. Leonardo da Vinci. New York: Bookwright, 1990.

Nuland, Sheriwn B. Leonardo da Vinci. New York: Viking, 2000.

Video Recordings

Masterpieces of Italian Art. Volume: Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. New York: VPI-AC Video Inc., 1990.

Web Sites

"da Vinci, Leonardo." Artcyclopedia. [Online] Available http://artcyclopedia.com/artists/leonardo_da_vinci.html, April 5, 2002.

"da Vinci, Leonardo." National Museum of Science and Technology. [Online] Available http://www.museoscienza.org/english/leonardo/leonardo.html, April 5, 2002.

"da, Vinci, Leonard." The Quotations Page. [Online] Available http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes.php3?author=Leonardo+da+Vinci, April 5, 2002.

"da Vinci, Leonardo." WebMuseum. [Online] Available http://mexplaza.udg.mx/wm/paint/auth/vinci/, April 5, 2002.

"Leonardo da Vinci." MSN Encarta. [Online] Available http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761561520, April 5, 2002.