Leonardo da Vinci, Renaissance Man

Leonardo da Vinci was a true renaissance man. He was a philosopher, inventor, architect, engineer, mathematician and a painter. He was born into the renaissance age and was a genius of a man, not likely to be seen again. He seemed to be interested in everything and was very detail oriented.

Leonardo was born in Anchiano, Italy on April 15, 1452. His family had lived in the area for almost 200 years. His father, Ser Piero, was a notary public and his mother, Catarina, was a farmer's daughter. They were never married to each other but did, through marriages to others, give him 17 half brothers and sisters. He was actually baptized Lionardo.

He spent the first five years of his life in Anchiano, then went to live with his grandfather in Vinci. With the move, he officially became a part of his father's family, although he was never given the status of heir.

At school his teachers were constantly frustrated by all of the questions he asked. He learned geometry, reading, writing, math and Latin. Since Latin was not his best subject he later tried to improve it.

At age 14 he made the move to Florence to begin his apprenticeship in art. He worked in the shop of the famous artist, Andrea del Verrocchio. During this time he learned painting, sculpting, goldsmithing and bronze casting from the great man. He worked on small portions of pictures. He taught himself to mix and paint in oils. Due to Andrea's interest in his drawings he was given room in the studio. He worked with other artists such as Botticelli, Lorenzo di Credi and Perugino. He had been apprenticed for 6 years.

In 1472, Leonardo da Vinci achieved status as an artist in his own right. His name was included in the Campagnia de Pittori (the red book of Florence artists) and he joined the painters guild.

In 1473, Leonardo did his first signed and dated work. It was a pen and ink drawing of the Arno Valley. It was considered to be a new approach to perspective.

Then, in 1476, he and his ex-master did a painting together called the "Baptism of Christ". The work was a commission from the cloister of St. Salvi. It is said that this picture caused Verrocchio to swear he would never paint again. Each artist did one of the angels and Leonardo's was so much superior to Verrocchio's that he was greatly upset.

In 1476, Leonardo was anonymously accused of having an affair with one of his male models. It was common during this time period for people to be accused by putting their name and "crime" in a box. Leonardo was only one of five accused. At trial, all were acquitted for lack of evidence.

Leonardo da Vinci supposedly set up his own shingle from Verrocchio's shop and stayed there for 2 more years. It is believed that he had already started learning the mechanical. In 1478 a drawing he did shows a young man similar to the angel he did earlier and some mechanical elements. He also did 2 other paintings during this time. Both were of the Madonna, one with child and one with a cat. Only the painting of Madoona and child remains. We know about the other painting from the original drawing which still exists.

In 1480-1481, the annunciation pictures were painted. While credit is generally given to Leonardo alone, specialists believe he did the Florence annunciation in collaboration with Lorenzo di Credi. He also started but did not finish the St. Jermoe painting. He also started the Adoration of Kings which was commissioned to decorate the church of St. Donato Scopeto. He never finished this picture either. His drawings of the picture create the illusion of life in the animals.

Next he went to Milan to work for Duke Lodovico il Moro. He continued to work for the Duke for 17 years. He painted, did sculptures, created court festivals, designed weapons, buildings and machinery. He was kept very busy by the Duke.

His interests ranged far and wide and show in his drawings. Things like nature, mechanics, canals, weapons, flying machines, tanks architecture, submarines, science and others. He would move from one thing to another without finishing, such as with "The Horse". In Milan he had his own workshop and may apprentices and workers. He did, however, manage to finish a few paintings, such as "The Last Supper" and "The Virgin on the Rocks" as well as about 4 others. He also was known to study anatomy from real bodies that he autopsied. His notebooks had many very detailed drawings of body parts as well as inventions, churches, fortresses, and many other things. He arranged his drawings and studies into codices and manuscripts in four main categories, painting, architecture, elements of mechanics and human anatomy. When the Duke fell from power, it was time for Leonardo to move on.

For the next 16 years he worked for many employers including Cesare Borgia. He worked as military engineer and traveled with the Borgia army for one year. He designed a bridge for Constantinople. He met Niccolo Machiavelli and with his help got a commission to paint "The Battle of Anghiari". In 1503, he supposedly started the Mona Lisa.

In 1504, he learned of the death of his father but was denied any inheiritence by the scheming of his siblings. When his uncle died, he managed to best the half brothers and sisters and get the use of the money and land.

From 1513 to 1516, he maintained his own shop in Rome and worked mainly for the Pope. The Pope did not allow him to dissect any more bodies which seriously bothered him in his anatomy and physiology studies. When his patron, Giuliano de' Medici, died it was again time for a change.

King Frances I of France offered him a new and very lucrative job which included money and a manor house near Amboise. Even with paralysis of his right hand, he continued to draw and teach. He did studies of the Virgin Mary, cats, horses, dragons, St. George, water, the Deluge, machines, and anatomy. He held the title of Premier Painter and Engineer and Architect until his death in 1519. It is believed that the King was with him at his death.

References:

Encarta online Encyclopaedia
Brittanica online Encyclopaedia
Wikapedia online Encyclopaedia
leonet.it/comini/vinci
leonardo.net
kausal.com/Leonardo
mos.org

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