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Early period: Florence

First milanese period (1482–99).

• Second Florentine period (1500–08)
• Second Milanese period (1508–13)
• Last years (1513–19)
• Last Supper
• Art and science: the notebooks
• The Mona Lisa and other works
• Later painting and drawing
• Architecture
• Science of painting
• Anatomical studies and drawings
• Mechanics and cosmology
• Leonardo as artist-scientist

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Leonardo da Vinci

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Leonardo da Vinci was an artist and engineer who is best known for his paintings, notably the Mona Lisa (c. 1503–19) and the Last Supper (1495–98). His drawing of the Vitruvian Man (c. 1490) has also become a cultural icon. Leonardo is sometimes credited as the inventor of the tank, helicopter, parachute, and flying machine, among other vehicles and devices, but later scholarship has disputed such claims. Nonetheless, Leonardo’s notebooks reveal a sharp intellect, and his contributions to art, including methods of representing space, three-dimensional objects, and the human figure, cannot be overstated.

Leonardo da Vinci’s total output in painting is really rather small; there are less than 20 surviving paintings that can be definitely attributed to him, and several of them are unfinished. Two of his most important works—the Battle of Anghiari and the Leda , neither of them completed—have survived only in copies.

Leonardo da Vinci was described as having a gracious but reserved personality and an elegant bearing. He was known to be fastidious in personal care, keeping a beard neat and trim in later age, and to dress in colorful clothing in styles that dismissed current customs. The 16th-century writer Giorgio Vasari indicated that Leonardo cared little for money but was very generous toward his friends and assistants. He had an exceedingly inquisitive mind and made strenuous efforts to become erudite in languages, natural science, mathematics, philosophy, and history, among other subjects. The writings in his notebooks suggest that he may have been a vegetarian, and there is also some speculation that he may have been gay.

Leonardo da Vinci’s parents were unmarried at the time of his birth near a small village named Vinci in Tuscany . His father, Ser Piero, was a Florentine notary and landlord, and his mother, Caterina, was a young peasant woman who shortly thereafter married an artisan. Leonardo grew up on his father’s family’s estate, where he was treated as a “legitimate” son and received the usual elementary education of the day: reading, writing, and arithmetic. Leonardo never married, but he had many close relationships with other artists and intellectuals as well as with his assistants.

When Leonardo was about 15, his father, who enjoyed a high reputation in the Florentine community, apprenticed him to artist Andrea del Verrocchio . In Verrocchio’s renowned workshop Leonardo received multifaceted training that included painting and sculpture as well as the technical-mechanical arts. He also worked in the next-door workshop of artist Antonio del Pollaiuolo , a sculptor, painter, engraver, and goldsmith, who frequently worked with his brother, Piero . In 1472 Leonardo was accepted into the painters’ guild of Florence , but he remained in his teacher’s workshop for five more years, after which time he worked independently in Florence until 1481.

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Leonardo da Vinci (born April 15, 1452, Anchiano, near Vinci, Republic of Florence [Italy]—died May 2, 1519, Cloux [now Clos-Lucé], France) was an Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose skill and intelligence, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. His Last Supper (1495–98) and Mona Lisa (c. 1503–19) are among the most widely popular and influential paintings of the Renaissance . His notebooks reveal a spirit of scientific inquiry and a mechanical inventiveness that were centuries ahead of their time.

The unique fame that Leonardo enjoyed in his lifetime and that, filtered by historical criticism , has remained undimmed to the present day rests largely on his unlimited desire for knowledge, which guided all his thinking and behaviour. An artist by disposition and endowment, he considered his eyes to be his main avenue to knowledge; to Leonardo, sight was man’s highest sense because it alone conveyed the facts of experience immediately, correctly, and with certainty. Hence, every phenomenon perceived became an object of knowledge, and saper vedere (“knowing how to see”) became the great theme of his studies. He applied his creativity to every realm in which graphic representation is used: he was a painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer. But he went even beyond that. He used his superb intellect, unusual powers of observation, and mastery of the art of drawing to study nature itself, a line of inquiry that allowed his dual pursuits of art and science to flourish.

Life and works

Leonardo’s parents were unmarried at the time of his birth. His father, Ser Piero, was a Florentine notary and landlord, and his mother, Caterina, was a young peasant woman who shortly thereafter married an artisan. Leonardo grew up on his father’s family’s estate, where he was treated as a “legitimate” son and received the usual elementary education of that day: reading, writing , and arithmetic. Leonardo did not seriously study Latin , the key language of traditional learning, until much later, when he acquired a working knowledge of it on his own. He also did not apply himself to higher mathematics —advanced geometry and arithmetic—until he was 30 years old, when he began to study it with diligent tenacity.

Leonardo’s artistic inclinations must have appeared early. When he was about 15, his father, who enjoyed a high reputation in the Florence community , apprenticed him to artist Andrea del Verrocchio . In Verrocchio’s renowned workshop Leonardo received a multifaceted training that included painting and sculpture as well as the technical-mechanical arts. He also worked in the next-door workshop of artist Antonio Pollaiuolo . In 1472 Leonardo was accepted into the painters’ guild of Florence, but he remained in his teacher’s workshop for five more years, after which time he worked independently in Florence until 1481. There are a great many superb extant pen and pencil drawings from this period, including many technical sketches—for example, pumps, military weapons, mechanical apparatus—that offer evidence of Leonardo’s interest in and knowledge of technical matters even at the outset of his career.

In 1482 Leonardo moved to Milan to work in the service of the city’s duke—a surprising step when one realizes that the 30-year-old artist had just received his first substantial commissions from his native city of Florence: the unfinished panel painting Adoration of the Magi for the monastery of San Donato a Scopeto and an altar painting for the St. Bernard Chapel in the Palazzo della Signoria, which was never begun. That he gave up both projects seems to indicate that he had deeper reasons for leaving Florence. It may have been that the rather sophisticated spirit of Neoplatonism prevailing in the Florence of the Medici went against the grain of Leonardo’s experience-oriented mind and that the more strict, academic atmosphere of Milan attracted him. Moreover, he was no doubt enticed by Duke Ludovico Sforza ’s brilliant court and the meaningful projects awaiting him there.

Leonardo spent 17 years in Milan, until Ludovico’s fall from power in 1499. He was listed in the register of the royal household as pictor et ingeniarius ducalis (“painter and engineer of the duke”). Leonardo’s gracious but reserved personality and elegant bearing were well-received in court circles. Highly esteemed, he was constantly kept busy as a painter and sculptor and as a designer of court festivals. He was also frequently consulted as a technical adviser in the fields of architecture , fortifications, and military matters, and he served as a hydraulic and mechanical engineer. As he would throughout his life, Leonardo set boundless goals for himself; if one traces the outlines of his work for this period, or for his life as a whole, one is tempted to call it a grandiose “unfinished symphony.”

As a painter, Leonardo completed six works in the 17 years in Milan. (According to contemporary sources, Leonardo was commissioned to create three more pictures, but these works have since disappeared or were never done.) From about 1483 to 1486, he worked on the altar painting The Virgin of the Rocks , a project that led to 10 years of litigation between the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception , which commissioned it, and Leonardo; for uncertain purposes, this legal dispute led Leonardo to create another version of the work in about 1508. During this first Milanese period he also made one of his most famous works, the monumental wall painting Last Supper (1495–98) in the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie (for more analysis of this work, see below Last Supper ). Also of note is the decorative ceiling painting (1498) he made for the Sala delle Asse in the Milan Castello Sforzesco .

During this period Leonardo worked on a grandiose sculptural project that seems to have been the real reason he was invited to Milan: a monumental equestrian statue in bronze to be erected in honour of Francesco Sforza , the founder of the Sforza dynasty . Leonardo devoted 12 years—with interruptions—to this task. In 1493 the clay model of the horse was put on public display on the occasion of the marriage of Emperor Maximilian to Bianca Maria Sforza, and preparations were made to cast the colossal figure, which was to be 16 feet (5 metres) high. But, because of the imminent danger of war, the metal, ready to be poured, was used to make cannons instead, causing the project to come to a halt. Ludovico’s fall in 1499 sealed the fate of this abortive undertaking, which was perhaps the grandest concept of a monument in the 15th century. The ensuing war left the clay model a heap of ruins.

As a master artist, Leonardo maintained an extensive workshop in Milan, employing apprentices and students. Among Leonardo’s pupils at this time were Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Ambrogio de Predis, Bernardino de’ Conti, Francesco Napoletano, Andrea Solari , Marco d’Oggiono, and Salai. The role of most of these associates is unclear, leading to the question of Leonardo’s so-called apocryphal works, on which the master collaborated with his assistants. Scholars have been unable to agree in their attributions of these works.

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Leonardo da vinci (1452–1519).

A Bear Walking

• Leonardo da Vinci

The Head of a Woman in Profile Facing Left

Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio

The Head of the Virgin in Three-Quarter View Facing Right

Allegory on the Fidelity of the Lizard (recto); Design for a Stage Setting (verso)

The Head of a Grotesque Man in Profile Facing Right

After Leonardo da Vinci

Head of a Man in Profile Facing to the Left

Compositional Sketches for the Virgin Adoring the Christ Child, with and without the Infant St. John the Baptist; Diagram of a Perspectival Projection (recto); Slight Doodles (verso)

Studies for Hercules Holding a Club Seen in Frontal View, Male Nude Unsheathing a Sword, and the Movements of Water (Recto); Study for Hercules Holding a Club Seen in Rear View (Verso)

Carmen Bambach Department of Drawings and Prints, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2002

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) is one of the most intriguing personalities in the history of Western art. Trained in Florence as a painter and sculptor in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio (1435–1488), Leonardo is also celebrated for his scientific contributions. His curiosity and insatiable hunger for knowledge never left him. He was constantly observing, experimenting, and inventing, and drawing was, for him, a tool for recording his investigation of nature. Although completed works by Leonardo are few, he left a large body of drawings (almost 2,500) that record his ideas, most still gathered into notebooks. He was principally active in Florence (1472–ca. 1482, 1500–1508) and Milan (ca. 1482–99, 1508–13), but spent the last years of his life in Rome (1513–16) and France (1516/17–1519), where he died. His genius as an artist and inventor continues to inspire artists and scientists alike centuries after his death.

Drawings Outside of Italy, Leonardo’s work can be studied most readily in drawings. He recorded his constant flow of ideas for paintings on paper. In his Studies for the Nativity ( 17.142.1 ), he studied different poses and gestures of the mother and her infant , probably in preparation for the main panel in his famous altarpiece known as the Virgin of the Rocks (Musée du Louvre, Paris). Similarly, in a sheet of designs for a stage setting ( 17.142.2 ), prepared for a staging of a masque (or musical comedy) in Milan in 1496, he made notes on the actors’ positions on stage alongside his sketches, translating images and ideas from his imagination onto paper. Leonardo also drew what he observed from the world around him, including human anatomy , animal and plant life, the motion of water, and the flight of birds. He also investigated the mechanisms of machines used in his day, inventing many devices like a modern-day engineer. His drawing techniques range from rather rapid pen sketches, in The   Head of a Man in Profile Facing to The Left ( 10.45.1) , to carefully finished drawings in red and black chalks, as in The   Head of the Virgin ( 51.90 ). These works also demonstrate his fascination with physiognomy, and contrasts between youth and old age, beauty and ugliness.

The Last Supper (ca. 1492/94–1498) Leonardo’s Last Supper , on the end wall of the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, is one of the most renowned paintings of the High Renaissance. Recently restored, The Last Supper had already begun to flake during the artist’s lifetime due to his failed attempt to paint on the walls in layers (not unlike the technique of tempera on panel), rather than in a true fresco technique . Even in its current state, it is a masterpiece of dramatic narrative and subtle pictorial illusionism.

Leonardo chose to capture the moment just after Christ tells his apostles that one of them will betray him, and at the institution of the Eucharist. The effect of his statement causes a visible response, in the form of a wave of emotion among the apostles. These reactions are quite specific to each apostle, expressing what Leonardo called the “motions of the mind.” Despite the dramatic reaction of the apostles, Leonardo imposes a sense of order on the scene. Christ’s head is at the center of the composition, framed by a halo-like architectural opening. His head is also the vanishing point toward which all lines of the perspectival projection of the architectural setting converge. The apostles are arranged around him in four groups of three united by their posture and gesture. Judas, who was traditionally placed on the opposite side of the table, is here set apart from the other apostles by his shadowed face.

Mona Lisa (ca. 1503–6 and later) Leonardo may also be credited with the most famous portrait of all time, that of Lisa, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and known as the Mona Lisa (Musée du Louvre, Paris). An aura of mystery surrounds this painting, which is veiled in a soft light, creating an atmosphere of enchantment. There are no hard lines or contours here (a technique of painting known as sfumato— fumo in Italian means “smoke”), only seamless transitions between light and dark. Perhaps the most striking feature of the painting is the sitter’s ambiguous half smile. She looks directly at the viewer, but her arms, torso, and head each twist subtly in a different direction, conveying an arrested sense of movement. Leonardo explores the possibilities of oil paint in the soft folds of the drapery, texture of skin, and contrasting light and dark (chiaroscuro). The deeply receding background, with its winding rivers and rock formations, is an example of Leonardo’s personal view of the natural world: one in which everything is liquid, in flux, and filled with movement and energy.

Bambach, Carmen. “Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/leon/hd_leon.htm (October 2002)

Further Reading

Bambach, Carmen C., ed. Leonardo da Vinci, Master Draftsman . Exhibition catalogue.. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.

Additional Essays by Carmen Bambach

• Bambach, Carmen. “ Anatomy in the Renaissance .” (October 2002)
• Bambach, Carmen. “ Renaissance Drawings: Material and Function .” (October 2002)

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List of Rulers

• List of Rulers of Europe
• Central Europe (including Germany), 1400–1600 A.D.
• Florence and Central Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• France, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Rome and Southern Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
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• 15th Century A.D.
• Biblical Scene
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Artist or Maker

• Boltraffio, Giovanni Antonio
• Parmigianino

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian Renaissance artist, architect, engineer, and scientist. He is renowned for his ability to observe and capture nature, scientific phenomena, and human emotions in all media . Leonardo’s innovative masterpieces demonstrate a mastery of light, perspective, and overall effect. His most-loved works include the Mona Lisa portrait and The Last Supper mural.

Considered one of the greatest minds in history, Leonardo's approach to acquiring knowledge on everything from anatomy to mechanics involved understanding both the theory and practice of any given subject. In short, by combining the skills of the artisan with those of the scholar, Leonardo's vision demonstrated the benefits of a completely new approach to understanding the present world and just how to best create new and marvellous things for a future one.

Leonardo was born on 15 April 1452 CE, the illegitimate son of a lawyer from the town of Vinci near Florence. A gifted child, especially in music and drawing, c. 1464 CE the young Leonardo was sent off to pursue a career as an artist and study as an apprentice in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435-1488 CE). Other notable future artists then at the workshop included Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510 CE) and Pietro Perugino (c. 1450-1523 CE). Here Leonardo would have learnt to master sketching and painting techniques, as well as the latest trends like the use of classicising ornamental detail in paintings. One of the young Leonardo's first contributions to Renaissance art may have been the kneeling angel in Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ painting (c. 1470 CE, Uffizi, Florence). Completing his apprenticeship in 1472 CE, Leonardo became a paid assistant to Verrocchio and was registered as a master in the painter's guild of Florence.

Other skills Leonardo perfected early on in his career included chiaroscuro (the contrasting use of light and shade) and sfumato (the transition of lighter into darker colours). The former technique is especially evident in his c. 1503 CE coloured charcoal illustration Virgin and Child with St. Anne (National Gallery, London) and its c. 1505 painted version (Louvre, Paris ). The technique of sfumato is well-illustrated in Leonardo's c. 1483 CE oil on panel painting Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre). Leonardo was also an innovator, though. His c. 1472 CE The Annunciation (Uffizi) illustrates the artist followed some Renaissance trends, for example, the classical details of Mary's book rest, but also ignored others such as his obvious rejection of symmetry in the background trees.

Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Nocera, art historian and contemporary of Leonardo's, gives in his mini-biography the following summary of the artist's personality:

He had a character which was very amiable, impressive and generous, and he had the most beautiful appearance. He was a splendid critic and inventor of all things elegant and delightful, especially in theatrical displays. He sang to his own accompaniment on the lyre , and he was on excellent footing with all the princes of his time. (Woods, 269)

Notes & Sketches

Leonardo was far from being restricted to art and his interests were wide indeed, encompassing just about all the physical world. He studied architecture , engineering, geometry, perspective, mechanics, and hydraulics to satisfy himself just how things worked and why they appeared as they do to the human eye. The natural world was not neglected with studies in anatomy, botany, zoology, and geology. Leonardo kept notebooks throughout his life in which he recorded the results of his investigations and his ideas for new inventions. Machines the artist conjured up include cranes, paddlewheel boats, tanks, cannons, apparatus to breathe underwater, and even flying contraptions. The only element many of these designs lacked was an internal combustion engine, not to be invented, of course, until centuries later. The notes in these books are often interspersed with sketches, many being miniature masterpieces in themselves. Perhaps the most famous of all these sketches is the Vitruvian Man drawing (see below).

In addition, Leonardo wrote down his thoughts on painting and his observation of effects seen in nature he considered useful to the artist. As the man himself said, "a painter is not admirable unless he is universal", although he was appreciative that mastery of any subject takes time and noted that impatience was the mother of stupidity (Hale, 183). These notes and treatises were no doubt useful in Leonardo's role as a tutor to young artists in his own workshop. A curiosity of them is that many are written as mirror script , that is in the reverse direction of normal handwriting.

Besides stacks of notebooks, Leonardo built up an impressive personal library which, by 1503 CE, contained 116 books covering such subjects as medieval and Renaissance medicine , religion , and mathematics. The collection included such seminal works as Natural History by Pliny, Geography by Ptolemy I and On Warfare by Roberto Valturio. Leonardo was interested in languages, too, particularly Latin, which he attempted to teach himself in order to read medieval manuscripts in their original form; long lists of Latin words can be found in his notebooks.

Leonardo's versatility is further illustrated in his employment by Ludovico Sforza (1452-1508 CE), the Duke of Milan. Leonardo had moved to the city in 1482 CE and he acted as the principal Sforza military and naval engineer, on the one hand, and master painter and sculptor, on the other. Leonardo also produced ingenious automata for Ludovico's festivals and these included moving planets with their namesake gods inside. The master turned his hand to a massive bronze equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza (1401-1466 CE), founder of that dynasty, but the project never got beyond the terracotta model stage - by no means the only work Leonardo never finished. Sketches survive showing the general form and Leonardo attempting to work out just how to make and transport the massive pieces of bronze for final assembly.

Leonardo painted Ludovico Sforza's mistress Cecilia Gallerani in his The Lady with an Ermine c. 1490 CE (National Museum Krakow, Poland). His greatest work in the 17 years he spent in Milan, though, was The Last Supper mural (see below). It was in this period, specifically the 1490s CE, that Leonardo pioneered the new medium of red chalk drawings on treated paper. The many surviving examples of these drawings include a famous self-portrait which shows the artist aged and long-bearded. The sketch is now in the Biblioteca Reale of Turin.

Further Travels & France

Leonardo visited Venice in 1500 CE. Around this time he painted his erotic version of the Leda and the Swan story from Greek mythology which is now lost, although sketches survive. In 1502 CE Leonardo worked in Rome where he was commissioned by the statesman Cesare Borgia (1475-1507 CE) to sort out the city's canals. He also mapped the city and surrounding regions, as well as planning improvements to harbours. One of his most celebrated maps is that of Imola which, made in 1502 CE, shows every structure from above on a precise scale, the first such map to be made. By 1503 CE Leonardo was back in Florence to work on proposals for a battle scene mural in the city's Council Hall. Leonardo's now lost 'cartoon' for the work showed the 1449 CE Battle of Anghiari between the armies of Florence and Milan. The early years of the 16th century CE also saw Leonardo complete a painting he had probably been working on sporadically, the Mona Lisa portrait (see below).

In 1517 CE Leonardo moved on to France, where his skills were appreciated by Francis I of France (r. 1515-1547 CE), a great patron of Renaissance artists and architects. Leonardo, specifically invited by the French king, may have been involved in the initial design stage for Francis' Chateau de Chambord on the Loire River, built from 1519 to 1547 CE. The chateau's ingenious double spiral staircase is frequently credited to Leonardo even if firm evidence is lacking.

Leonardo's final work of art was his c. 1515 CE painting St. John the Baptist (Louvre), although he seems to have focussed more on scientific enquiry in the latter stages of his life. Leonardo died at his French home, Chateau Cloux (aka Clos Lucé), on 2 May 1519 CE and he was entombed within the Chapel of Saint Hubert just next to the Chateau d'Amboise.

Reputation & Legacy

The sheer diversity of work left by Leonardo has astounded historians and critics ever since his death . As the Renaissance historian Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1887 CE) famously stated, "the colossal outlines of Leonardo's nature can never be more than dimly and distantly conceived" (104). Leonardo's artistic works were influential on fellow Renaissance artists because of their mastery of composition and light, the contrapposto posture of his figures (i.e. the asymmetry between the upper and lower body), and the sheer invention and variety of their compositions.

However, it is also true to say that some elements of Leonardo's works were so subtle and skilled that few artists had any hope of imitating them. Then, just as today, much of his art was greatly admired but not wholly understood by everyone. Nevertheless, those who could see did see. The master's work for the Battle of Anghiari, several copies of which were made, was influential on such gifted artists as Raphael (1483-1520 CE) who greatly admired the writhing mass of humanity seemingly captured at a moment frozen in time. This is but one example of the master's influence, just one product of what the mathematician and artists' frequent collaborator Luca Pacioli (c. 1447-1517 CE) already called "the divine left hand" (Campbell, 387). Leonardo's fame even reached as far as Constantinople where the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Bayezid II (r. 1481-1512 CE) invited him, without success, to his court.

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Leonardo's notebooks, not published until after 1570 CE, were influential both for their theories on painting and his diagrams on perspective but also on the pursuit of knowledge in general. Simply the way that Leonardo illustrated certain subjects (from an embryo to a cathedral), with his use of cross-section, perspective, scaled precision, and repeating the subject but from different viewpoints, would all influence draughtsmanship in architecture and the creation of diagrams in science ever after. Above all, Leonardo had shown that practice and theory could not and should not be separated. The great master demonstrated in his own person that a full knowledge of any subject required a combination of the skills of the artisan, the flair and imagination of the artist, and the meticulous research and reasoning of a scholar. Consequently, the approaches to a great many subjects, but especially art, architecture, engineering, and science, were fundamentally changed forever.

Masterpieces

The Mona Lisa ( La Gioconda in Italian) is an oil on wood panel portrait of an unidentified woman made by Leonardo between c. 1503 and 1506 CE. It measures 98 x 53 centimetres (38 x 21 inches), a relatively small size that often surprises modern viewers used to seeing this iconic image in larger reprints. The painting, rather than merely capturing the physical features of the sitter, attempts to capture the very mood and thoughts of the subject at a specific moment in time, what Leonardo called "the motions of the mind" (Campbell, 257). Other effects include the use of aerial perspective such as the recession of colour into the furthest background of a watery-looking landscape and the difference in gradation of colour from the top to the bottom of the painting.

The casual posture of the lady and the position of her hands forms, with the head as the top point, the classic triangle shape that many Renaissance artists were experimenting with in their paintings. Light and dark colours are used expertly to emphasise the oval face and soft hands of the lady while the contours of these combine convex and concave lines which create an illusion of supple movement. Finally, the three-quarter view of the lady creates another suggestion of movement as she seems to have just that moment turned to regard the viewer. That Leonardo is exclusively interested in presenting a view of a living-breathing individual in intimate contact with the viewer is further evidenced by the lack of any identifying title and the total lack of jewellery or other symbols of wealth which were typical of portraits up to that point. The work was immediately influential, inspiring artists like the young Raphael in his own portrait painting such as Maddalena Strozzi and Baldassare Castiglione . Leonardo must have been pleased with the Mona Lisa as he never parted with it during his lifetime and the picture is today one of the star attractions in the Louvre museum in Paris.

The Last Supper

The Last Supper ( Il Cenacolo in Italian) is a depiction of the final meal of Jesus Christ and his apostles which Leonardo painted on the wall of the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a residence of the Dominican order in Milan. This was a traditional subject to decorate monastic refectories, and the work was very likely commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, whose arms appear at the top of the mural. The work was completed c. 1498 CE. The triumph of the mural is the variation in emotional reactions displayed by each of the apostles as they hear that one of them will soon betray Jesus .

Like any great work of art, The Last Supper has been subjected to all manner of interpretations. Some, for example, have seen Mary Magdalene in the figure who is intended to be the youthful St. John the Evangelist, sitting to the left of Jesus. Despite the intense interest in the peripheral figures and their meaning, the star of the scene is, of course, Jesus, who, presented as a central triangular form, is further brought to the viewer's attention by the precise perspective of the background which leads the eye irresistibly to the picture's very centre. The triangular motif is further repeated by the marked division in colour of Jesus's clothing and Leonardo organising the apostles into four distinct groups, each forming an approximate triangle with their collective bodies. Finally, amongst all the action and bustle of the gesticulating apostles, Jesus, with both hands on the table, is a vision of immobility, a calm and knowing centre in a storm of outrage and incomprehension.

The work was immediately and hugely influential thanks to an engraving of it made by Marcantonio Raimondi (1480-1534 CE) which was distributed far and wide to interested artists. Unfortunately, things went wrong within a decade after completion when the paintwork began to crumble away. This was because Leonardo had experimented with using oil paints and tempera on plaster in an undocumented technique instead of the familiar and much longer-lasting true fresco method. This dubious experimentation has challenged restorers of The Last Supper ever since. The mural also suffered in more recent times. First, a doorway was inexplicably made in the wall which intrudes into the bottom of the mural. Then, during the Second World War , the building was fire-bombed. Fortunately, the mural had been protected by a wall of sandbags and survived the bombing but it was exposed to the weather until adequate building repairs were made. A comprehensive restoration programme was conducted in the early 21st century CE, and it can be visited by the public, although numbers are limited and pre-booking is obligatory.

Vitruvian Man

Although not a finished work of art (or ever intended to be), Leonardo's pen and ink on paper sketch known as the Vitruvian Man has become so famous that it is one of the images most associated with his name. Measuring 34 x 25 centimetres (13.5 x 10 inches), it was drawn c. 1492 CE and is now in the Academia Gallery in Venice. The name of the work derives from Vitruvius (c. 90 - c. 20 BCE), the Roman architect who famously wrote De Architectura ( On Architecture ), an influential treatise which combines the history of ancient architecture and engineering with the author's personal experience and advice on the subject.

Vitruvius' work was popular during the Renaissance when artists were re-examining the classical world for ideas and inspiration. In one particular passage, Vitruvius recommends that correct architectural proportions should be derived from a study of the proportions of the human body. The passage describes a human body within a circle and a square. Several Renaissance artists and architects, attracted by the idea that there was some mysterious and perhaps even divine relationship between mathematics, the human body, and beauty, attempted to draw what Vitruvius had only described in words. Leonardo's Vitruvian Man is one such attempt. The man's naval is the centre of the circle and his fingertips and feet touch its circumference. A second male figure, superimposed on the other, is set within a square. The sketch is perhaps a metaphor for humanity's position at the centre of an ordered universe, and as such it has become a defining symbol of the Renaissance and the ongoing enquiry into the exact relation between religion, science, and art.

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Bibliography

• Anderson, Christy. Renaissance Architecture. Oxford University Press, 2013.
• Burckhardt, Jacob. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. Sagwan Press, 2015.
• Campbell, Gordon. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Renaissance. Oxford University Press, 2019.
• Hale, J.R. (ed). The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of the Italian Renaissance by J. R. Hale. Thames & Hudson, 2020.
• Paoletti, John T. & Radke, Gary M. Art in Renaissance Italy. Pearson, 2011.
• Rundle, David. The Hutchinson Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. Hodder Arnold, 2000.
• Welch, Evelyn. Art in Renaissance Italy. Oxford University Press, 2001.
• Woods, Kim W. Making Renaissance Art. Yale University Press, 2007.
• Wyatt, Michael. The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge University Press, 2014.

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Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance artist and engineer, known for paintings like "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa,” and for inventions like a flying machine.

(1452-1519)

Who Was Leonardo da Vinci?

Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, military engineer and draftsman — the epitome of a true Renaissance man. Gifted with a curious mind and a brilliant intellect, da Vinci studied the laws of science and nature, which greatly informed his work. His drawings, paintings and other works have influenced countless artists and engineers over the centuries.

Da Vinci was born in a farmhouse outside the village of Anchiano in Tuscany, Italy (about 18 miles west of Florence) on April 15, 1452.

Born out of wedlock to respected Florentine notary Ser Piero and a young peasant woman named Caterina, da Vinci was raised by his father and his stepmother.

At the age of five, he moved to his father’s estate in nearby Vinci (the town from which his surname derives), where he lived with his uncle and grandparents.

Young da Vinci received little formal education beyond basic reading, writing and mathematics instruction, but his artistic talents were evident from an early age.

Around the age of 14, da Vinci began a lengthy apprenticeship with the noted artist Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence. He learned a wide breadth of technical skills including metalworking, leather arts, carpentry, drawing, painting and sculpting.

His earliest known dated work — a pen-and-ink drawing of a landscape in the Arno valley — was sketched in 1473.

Early Works

At the age of 20, da Vinci qualified for membership as a master artist in Florence’s Guild of Saint Luke and established his own workshop. However, he continued to collaborate with del Verrocchio for an additional five years.

It is thought that del Verrocchio completed his “Baptism of Christ” around 1475 with the help of his student, who painted part of the background and the young angel holding the robe of Jesus.

According to Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects , written around 1550 by artist Giorgio Vasari, del Verrocchio was so humbled by the superior talent of his pupil that he never picked up a paintbrush again. (Most scholars, however, dismiss Vasari’s account as apocryphal.)

In 1478, after leaving del Verrocchio’s studio, da Vinci received his first independent commission for an altarpiece to reside in a chapel inside Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio.

Three years later the Augustinian monks of Florence’s San Donato a Scopeto tasked him to paint “Adoration of the Magi.” The young artist, however, would leave the city and abandon both commissions without ever completing them.

Was Leonardo da Vinci Gay?

Many historians believe that da Vinci was a homosexual: Florentine court records from 1476 show that da Vinci and four other young men were charged with sodomy, a crime punishable by exile or death.

After no witnesses showed up to testify against 24-year-old da Vinci, the charges were dropped, but his whereabouts went entirely undocumented for the following two years.

Leonardo da Vinci: Paintings

Although da Vinci is known for his artistic abilities, fewer than two dozen paintings attributed to him exist. One reason is that his interests were so varied that he wasn’t a prolific painter. Da Vinci’s most famous works include the “Vitruvian Man,” “The Last Supper” and the “ Mona Lisa .”

Vitruvian Man

Art and science intersected perfectly in da Vinci’s sketch of “Vitruvian Man,” drawn in 1490, which depicted a nude male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart inside both a square and a circle.

The now-famous sketch represents da Vinci's study of proportion and symmetry, as well as his desire to relate man to the natural world.

The Last Supper

Around 1495, Ludovico Sforza, then the Duke of Milan, commissioned da Vinci to paint “The Last Supper” on the back wall of the dining hall inside the monastery of Milan’s Santa Maria delle Grazie.

The masterpiece, which took approximately three years to complete, captures the drama of the moment when Jesus informs the Twelve Apostles gathered for Passover dinner that one of them would soon betray him. The range of facial expressions and the body language of the figures around the table bring the masterful composition to life.

The decision by da Vinci to paint with tempera and oil on dried plaster instead of painting a fresco on fresh plaster led to the quick deterioration and flaking of “The Last Supper.” Although an improper restoration caused further damage to the mural, it has now been stabilized using modern conservation techniques.

In 1503, da Vinci started working on what would become his most well-known painting — and arguably the most famous painting in the world —the “Mona Lisa.” The privately commissioned work is characterized by the enigmatic smile of the woman in the half-portrait, which derives from da Vinci’s sfumato technique.

Adding to the allure of the “Mona Lisa” is the mystery surrounding the identity of the subject. Princess Isabella of Naples, an unnamed courtesan and da Vinci’s own mother have all been put forth as potential sitters for the masterpiece. It has even been speculated that the subject wasn’t a female at all but da Vinci’s longtime apprentice Salai dressed in women’s clothing.

Based on accounts from an early biographer, however, the "Mona Lisa" is a picture of Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a wealthy Florentine silk merchant. The painting’s original Italian name — “La Gioconda” — supports the theory, but it’s far from certain. Some art historians believe the merchant commissioned the portrait to celebrate the pending birth of the couple’s next child, which means the subject could have been pregnant at the time of the painting.

If the Giocondo family did indeed commission the painting, they never received it. For da Vinci, the "Mona Lisa" was forever a work in progress, as it was his attempt at perfection, and he never parted with the painting. Today, the "Mona Lisa" hangs in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, secured behind bulletproof glass and regarded as a priceless national treasure seen by millions of visitors each year.

Battle of Anghiari

In 1503, da Vinci also started work on the "Battle of Anghiari," a mural commissioned for the council hall in the Palazzo Vecchio that was to be twice as large as "The Last Supper."

He abandoned the "Battle of Anghiari" project after two years when the mural began to deteriorate before he had a chance to finish it.

In 1482, Florentine ruler Lorenzo de' Medici commissioned da Vinci to create a silver lyre and bring it as a peace gesture to Ludovico Sforza. After doing so, da Vinci lobbied Ludovico for a job and sent the future Duke of Milan a letter that barely mentioned his considerable talents as an artist and instead touted his more marketable skills as a military engineer.

Using his inventive mind, da Vinci sketched war machines such as a war chariot with scythe blades mounted on the sides, an armored tank propelled by two men cranking a shaft and even an enormous crossbow that required a small army of men to operate.

The letter worked, and Ludovico brought da Vinci to Milan for a tenure that would last 17 years. During his time in Milan, da Vinci was commissioned to work on numerous artistic projects as well, including “The Last Supper.”

Da Vinci’s ability to be employed by the Sforza clan as an architecture and military engineering advisor as well as a painter and sculptor spoke to da Vinci’s keen intellect and curiosity about a wide variety of subjects.

Flying Machine

Always a man ahead of his time, da Vinci appeared to prophesy the future with his sketches of devices that resemble a modern-day bicycle and a type of helicopter.

Perhaps his most well-known invention is a flying machine, which is based on the physiology of a bat. These and other explorations into the mechanics of flight are found in da Vinci's Codex on the Flight of Birds, a study of avian aeronautics, which he began in 1505.

Like many leaders of Renaissance humanism, da Vinci did not see a divide between science and art. He viewed the two as intertwined disciplines rather than separate ones. He believed studying science made him a better artist.

In 1502 and 1503, da Vinci also briefly worked in Florence as a military engineer for Cesare Borgia, the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI and commander of the papal army. He traveled outside of Florence to survey military construction projects and sketch city plans and topographical maps.

He designed plans, possibly with noted diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli , to divert the Arno River away from rival Pisa in order to deny its wartime enemy access to the sea.

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Da Vinci’s Study of Anatomy and Science

Da Vinci thought sight was humankind’s most important sense and eyes the most important organ, and he stressed the importance of saper vedere, or “knowing how to see.” He believed in the accumulation of direct knowledge and facts through observation.

“A good painter has two chief objects to paint — man and the intention of his soul,” da Vinci wrote. “The former is easy, the latter hard, for it must be expressed by gestures and the movement of the limbs.”

To more accurately depict those gestures and movements, da Vinci began to study anatomy seriously and dissect human and animal bodies during the 1480s. His drawings of a fetus in utero, the heart and vascular system, sex organs and other bone and muscular structures are some of the first on human record.

In addition to his anatomical investigations, da Vinci studied botany, geology, zoology, hydraulics, aeronautics and physics. He sketched his observations on loose sheets of papers and pads that he tucked inside his belt.

Da Vinci placed the papers in notebooks and arranged them around four broad themes—painting, architecture, mechanics and human anatomy. He filled dozens of notebooks with finely drawn illustrations and scientific observations.

Ludovico Sforza also tasked da Vinci with sculpting a 16-foot-tall bronze equestrian statue of his father and founder of the family dynasty, Francesco Sforza. With the help of apprentices and students in his workshop, da Vinci worked on the project on and off for more than a dozen years.

Da Vinci sculpted a life-size clay model of the statue, but the project was put on hold when war with France required bronze to be used for casting cannons, not sculptures. After French forces overran Milan in 1499 — and shot the clay model to pieces — da Vinci fled the city along with the duke and the Sforza family.

Ironically, Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, who led the French forces that conquered Ludovico in 1499, followed in his foe’s footsteps and commissioned da Vinci to sculpt a grand equestrian statue, one that could be mounted on his tomb. After years of work and numerous sketches by da Vinci, Trivulzio decided to scale back the size of the statue, which was ultimately never finished.

Final Years

Da Vinci returned to Milan in 1506 to work for the very French rulers who had overtaken the city seven years earlier and forced him to flee.

Among the students who joined his studio was young Milanese aristocrat Francesco Melzi, who would become da Vinci’s closest companion for the rest of his life. He did little painting during his second stint in Milan, however, and most of his time was instead dedicated to scientific studies.

Amid political strife and the temporary expulsion of the French from Milan, da Vinci left the city and moved to Rome in 1513 along with Salai, Melzi and two studio assistants. Giuliano de’ Medici, brother of newly installed Pope Leo X and son of his former patron, gave da Vinci a monthly stipend along with a suite of rooms at his residence inside the Vatican.

His new patron, however, also gave da Vinci little work. Lacking large commissions, he devoted most of his time in Rome to mathematical studies and scientific exploration.

After being present at a 1515 meeting between France’s King Francis I and Pope Leo X in Bologna, the new French monarch offered da Vinci the title “Premier Painter and Engineer and Architect to the King.”

Along with Melzi, da Vinci departed for France, never to return. He lived in the Chateau de Cloux (now Clos Luce) near the king’s summer palace along the Loire River in Amboise. As in Rome, da Vinci did little painting during his time in France. One of his last commissioned works was a mechanical lion that could walk and open its chest to reveal a bouquet of lilies.

How Did Leonardo da Vinci Die?

Da Vinci died of a probable stroke on May 2, 1519, at the age of 67. He continued work on his scientific studies until his death; his assistant, Melzi, became the principal heir and executor of his estate. The “Mona Lisa” was bequeathed to Salai.

For centuries after his death, thousands of pages from his private journals with notes, drawings, observations and scientific theories have surfaced and provided a fuller measure of the true "Renaissance man."

Book and Movie

Although much has been written about da Vinci over the years, Walter Isaacson explored new territory with an acclaimed 2017 biography, Leonardo da Vinci , which offers up details on what drove the artist's creations and inventions.

The buzz surrounding the book carried into 2018, with the announcement that it had been optioned for a big-screen adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio .

Salvator Mundi

In 2017, the art world was sent buzzing with the news that the da Vinci painting "Salvator Mundi" had been sold at a Christie's auction to an undisclosed buyer for a whopping $450.3 million. That amount dwarfed the previous record for an art work sold at an auction, the $179.4 million paid for “Women of Algiers" by Pablo Picasso in 2015.

The sales figure was stunning in part because of the damaged condition of the oil-on-panel, which features Jesus Christ with his right hand raised in blessing and his left holding a crystal orb, and because not all experts believe it was rendered by da Vinci.

However, Christie's had launched what one dealer called a "brilliant marketing campaign," which promoted the work as "the holy grail of our business" and "the last da Vinci." Prior to the sale, it was the only known painting by the old master still in a private collection.

The Saudi Embassy stated that Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud of Saudi Arabia had acted as an agent for the ministry of culture of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Around that time, the newly-opened Louvre Abu Dhabi announced that the record-breaking artwork would be exhibited in its collection.

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QUICK FACTS

• Name: Leonardo da Vinci
• Birth Year: 1452
• Birth date: April 15, 1452
• Birth City: Vinci
• Birth Country: Italy
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance artist and engineer, known for paintings like "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa,” and for inventions like a flying machine.
• Science and Medicine
• Writing and Publishing
• Architecture
• Technology and Engineering
• Astrological Sign: Aries
• Nacionalities
• Interesting Facts
• Leonardo da Vinci was born out of wedlock to a respected Florentine notary and a young peasant woman.
• Da Vinci used tempera and oil on dried plaster to paint "The Last Supper," which led to its quick deterioration and flaking.
• For da Vinci, the "Mona Lisa" was forever a work in progress, as it was his attempt at perfection, and he never parted with the painting.
• Death Year: 1519
• Death date: May 2, 1519
• Death City: Amboise
• Death Country: France

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Leonardo da Vinci Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/artists/leonardo-da-vincii
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: August 28, 2019
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.
• Nothing is hidden beneath the sun.
• Obstacles cannot bend me. Every obstacle yields to effort.
• We make our life by the death of others.
• Necessity is the mistress and guardian of nature.
• One ought not to desire the impossible.
• He who neglects to punish evil sanctions the doing thereof.
• Darkness is the absence of light. Shadow is the diminution of light.
• The painter who draws by practice and judgment of the eye without the use of reason, is like the mirror that reproduces within itself all the objects which are set opposite to it without knowledge of the same.
• He who does not value life does not deserve it.
• Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
• Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.

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Europe 1300 - 1800

Course: europe 1300 - 1800   >   unit 4, about leonardo.

• Letter to the Duke of Milan
• Leonardo: Anatomist - by Nature Video
• Leonardo and his drawings
• Virgin of the Rocks
• Adoration of the Magi
• “Vitruvian Man”
• Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist (Burlington House Cartoon)
• The Last Supper

The heavens often rain down the richest gifts on human beings, but sometimes they bestow with lavish abundance upon a single individual beauty, grace and ability, so that whatever he does, every action is so divine that he distances all other men, and clearly displays how his greatness is a gift of God and not an acquirement of human art. Men saw this in Leonardo. (Vasari, Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects )

Leonardo: from Florence to Milan

Having until now sufficiently studied and examined the experiments of all those who claim to be experts and inventors of war machines, and having found that their machines do not differ in the least from those ordinarily in use, I shall make so bold, without wanting to cause harm to anyone, as to address myself to Your Excellency to divulge my secrets to him, and offer to demonstrate to him, at his pleasure, all the things briefly enumerated below.

In time of peace, I believe I am capable of giving you as much satisfaction as anyone, whether it be in architecture, for the construction of public or private buildings, or in bringing water from one place to another. Item, I can sculpt in marble, bronze or terracotta; while in painting, my work is the equal of anyone’s.

Return to Florence, then France

Leonardo’s death and the changing status of the artist.

Finally, having grown old, he remained ill many months, and, feeling himself near to death, asked to have himself diligently informed of the teaching of the Catholic faith, and of the good way and holy Christian religion; and then, with many moans, he confessed and was penitent; and although he could not raise himself well on his feet, supporting himself on the arms of his friends and servants, he was pleased to take devoutly the most holy Sacrament, out of his bed. The King, who was wont often and lovingly to visit him, then came into the room; wherefore he, out of reverence, having raised himself to sit upon the bed, giving him an account of his sickness and the circumstances of it, showed withal how much he had offended God and mankind in not having worked at his art as he should have done. Thereupon he was seized by a paroxysm, the messenger of death; for which reason the King having risen and having taken his head, in order to assist him and show him favour, to then end that he might alleviate his pain, his spirit, which was divine, knowing that it could not have any greater honour, expired in the arms of the King. (Vasari)

Leonardo's Naturalism

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Life and Paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci: Essay Example

Leonardo da vinci essay introduction, a great artist and a true legend, painting of a life time – mona lisa, the last supper (1495-1499), illustrations of leonardo – vitruvian man, leonardo’s life, essay on leonardo da vinci: conclusion, works cited.

There are certain individuals in the world that have transformed the word success. They have reached the heights of it and they are known as a legend. Leonardo Da Vinci was among those individuals that are claimed to be the greats of the world. He was a sculptor, a painter, an architect.

His numerous skills have earned him the name of “renaissance master”. In this paper we will highlight the greatness of this legend and we will focus on the masterpieces he has produced. The life of Leonardo and his achievements are discussed in detail.

Leonardo was an epic individual and he was born on April 15, 1452. The place of his birth was Vinci and he was a member of the Tuscan hill town which was located near the Amoco River and was included in the territory of Florence.

His father’s name was Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci. It was quite astonishing that Leonardo doesn’t have any surname and Da Vinci means from Vinci. He was living with his father at the at the age of 5 and his father married a sixteen year old girl who was interested in Leonardo but unfortunately she died in an early age.

Leonardo started training at a very early age and he was apprenticed to one of the best artist of his times Andrea di Cione, who was also known as “Verrocchio” (Phillps, 2008). He slowly and gradually become very experienced and earned a reputation of a legend.

Pablo Picasso was known as the biggest rival of Leonardo Da Vinci in the 15 th century. Leonardo was known as the master of all the fields and arts and science. He is known as one of the most famous painters ever lived in this world. His diversity and his sense of seeing things in an artistic manner was the beauty of this man.

He was primarily known as a painter and his most famous works are “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper”. These two painting are occupy a seniority among all the other paintings of the world and these two paintings are treated as the most parodied and the most reproduced paintings of all times.

His drawing of the Vitruvius Man is also of iconic nature. Leonardo Da Vince developed a huge number of paintings but about 15 (fifteen) of his paintings survived because of his experimentation with new techniques.

The most famous painting of Leonardo is known as the “The Last Supper” and it was actually painted in Milan. The idea that was described in the painting was the last meal shared by the Jesus Christ with all his disciples before his capture and his actual death.

The moment when Jesus said “one of you will betray me.” was displayed beautifully in that monument. The story of consternation was displayed in an effective manner by Leonardo.

He lived for 67 years and experienced a career which was filled with success and fame. At certain times he was also humiliated and casted away. His life experiences affected his work and often his paintings were partially completed.

Although a hefty amount paintings were developed by Leonardo but very few of them remained because some of them weren’t completed and the others were destroyed. A total of 20 notebooks of Leonardo are found which easily depict the quality centered work of Leonardo. These note books are preserved and all of his work in scattered in different areas of the globe.

Mona Lisa of Leonardo di Vinci is the most famous and the most celebrated paintings of all times. The greatness and the mastery of this painting are depicted by its subtle details. The faint smile is the most noticed thing of this painting and this painting at the time of its creation till now is one of the masterpieces of all times.

This work of Leonardo is said to be commissioned by a gentlemen who requested Leonardo to paint the picture of his wife. That’s why the painting of Leonardo da Vinci is also known as the paining of La Giaconda. However, many scholars are not agreeing on this point and they are rejecting this theory.

Besides being the most renowned painting in the world, Mona Lisa is considered to be one of the widely reproduced paintings of all the times. There are many posters, paintings and reproduction available in different hues and different sizes. Many great artists like Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali and Botero reproduced the work of Mona Lisa in the form of oil paintings, self portraits etc (Heaton, 2001).

The use of this epic painting doesn’t end there and Mona Lisa is used in items like jewelry, clothing and even in the modern day advertising Mona Lisa is used. It is also used as the sign of mockery that Mona Lisa having marijuana, Mona Lisa having braces etc.

Thus, the beauty of this painting will always remain and it can easily be predicted that the epical paintings of Leonardo di Vinci will be reproduced.

The last Super is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Leonardo’s work and historians suggest that it took 3 years of dedicated work of Leonardo to produce this epic painting. About, 500 years are passed yet this painting remains the most studied painting of all times.

The concept of the painting is quite clear and Leonardo beautifies it with his elegant brush work. Leonardo was asked to paint the supper of Christ with his disciples. Leonardo was immensely talented and therefore he chooses to paint the moment when the Christ declared the name of traitor.

The 12 disciples of Leonardo were very cleverly divided into three groups and they were surrounded by Christ. Christ arms were open and they were divided and he was depicting a triangular shape. This triangular shape was expressing the “Divine Trinity” which was quite beautifully displayed by Leonardo. Geometric shapes are used quite effectively in this painting in order to create groups.

Judas was included in the rest of the disciples and in most of the paintings of other artists Judas was separated from the group. This inclusion of Judas in the group makes the painting attractive and people called it a masterpiece because of this. The crystal clear display of the painting and portraying the notion of disciples was quite extraordinary.

This painting of Da Vinci is found in most of the holy institutions and homes around the world. Similarly, the reproduction of these paintings is an effective way to bring Leonardo at home. Although, many paintings of Leonardo are long lasting and they are timeless too, but this painting is chipping way and although people are making efforts to save this real painting and restorations have taken place to conserve this painting.

Besides other paintings and sculptors, Vitruvian Man is considered as the best illustration of Leonardo Di Vinci. He used both the text and the image to present his ideas. This illustration of this great artist praises the divine by properly creating the proportions and measurements of the human body. Different artists prior to Di Vinci have tried a lot to explain this theory but most of them have failed to express the right ideas of Vitruvian Man.

This illustration is a beautiful combination of pen ink drawing of a male whose figure is outstretched and it’s touching the circumference of the circle and the edges of the square. The naval of this individual falls exactly in the centre of the circle. The text surrounds the entire figure and the figure is static in nature but the dynamism of Da Vinci’s art portrays it as a living being.

This illustration depicts the clearness of words and image. The core idea of this illustration is to gather the ideas of architecture, art, anatomy in a single image. The importance of this illustration lies in its clear reflection of ideas.

Leonardo Di Vinci in his early times was asked by his father to paint a round shield. He gathered his thoughts and started to paint a really creepy head. He brought all sorts of lizards, bats etc and started to paint a really disgusting monster that was exhaling poisoned gases. After seeing the painting his father was so astonished that he predicted that his son would definitely be an artist.

He was himself an example of his quote which was “art is never finished, only abandoned (Stanley, 2000).”He was considered to be a castle of knowledge and his realistic attitude was quite evident in every walks of life. He moved from one topic to another and keeps on changing his interests.

Usually when he studied one subject for a long time a questions arises in his mind that he might change his interest. That’s the main reason why he completed only six pieces in just 17 years. He completed his 6 pieces when he was in Milan his masterpieces at that include “The Last Supper” and “The Virgin on the Rocks”. Many projects and paintings were not completed which also includes “Big Horse”.

However, he posses the tendency of not spending the time idle and when he wasn’t painting, sculpturing or involved in any other form of art he was usually studying. His major interests were studying the fields of science which includes anatomy, zoology etc. He has the tendency to spend hours in unlocking year old theories and framing new concepts from his mind.

When Leonardo was in Milan he was constantly occupied by the Duke of that time. He was allotted the work to paint the complete design the festivals of the court. The Duke offered Leonardo to show his talents and he asked Leonardo to design weapons, machinery and buildings. Leonardo was deeply involved in religious affairs and he also designed a number of churches.

All of his ideas were ahead of his time and as an engineer he used to conceptualize a helicopter, a calculator and certain other modern day inventions. Some of his engineered designs can be used at that time and some were constructed too.

But some of his inventions entered the manufacturing arena after a certain time but reports suggest that these inventions and their concept were unfortunately not acknowledged. Besides being a top notch painter he excelled in the field of science and certain ideas of Leonardo Di Vinci revolutionized the fields of optics, hydrodynamics, and anatomy.

At that time those who write with left hands were disgraced and the society didn’t like left handed people. Left hander writers were forced to write with their right hand. At that time Leonardo explained this phenomenon and said that this “difference” is a sign of genius and this is a distinctive feature in them. He was amongst the initiators of reverse writing and his writings can easily be deciphered through the mirror.

Leonardo was informed about the death of his father on July 9, 1504 but due to the evil nature of his step fathers he was not given the share of inheritance. Shortly, after the death of his father he was given the notice about the death of his uncle. He fought with his brothers and then ran with the money and some land that was inherited from his uncle.

He started to work n Rome, with his newly inherited money and he opened a workshop and he was involved in working for the projects of pope. He left France in the year 1516. Leonardo was considered to be the best painter when he was in France. In France Leonardo was working for Francis I and his job was near royal chateau an Amboise.

When Leonardo di Vinci left France he was suffering from paralysis and this affected his right hand. However, he was still working and fulfilling his passion. He continued his paintings and started to teach people who were interested in paintings and arts. Besides, arts and paintings he also started teaching anatomical studies and engineering.

Thus in a nutshell we can conclude that Leonardo Di Vinci was one of the most influential individuals from the field of arts and architecture. He was a true legend and his paintings truly display the element of geniuses in Leonardo. He was undoubtedly one of the most famous personalities in the Italian Renaissance.

He left his marks on all the fields which include arts, architecture, science, anatomy, anatomical studies. His reputation in entire life time was immense and influenced many contemporary artists of that time. He not only influenced great painters of Florentine like Raphael but also impressed the painters of Milan and Northern Italy. His painting of Mona Lisa is considered to be the best among all and it’s the most reproduced paintings of all times.

Heaton, M. (2001). Leonardo da Vinci and His Works. Adamant Media Corporation.

Phillps, J. (2008). World History Biographies: Leonardo da Vinci: The Genius Who Defined the Renaissance. National Geographic Children’s Books.

Stanley, D. (2000). Leonardo da Vinci. HarperCollins.

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Essay on Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci, the ten men-in-one, was a painter, inventor, lute player, sculptor, military engineer, scientific observer, anatomist, architect, town planner, and designer, The many facets of Vinci’s genius earned him the title “Universal Man.”

This “Universal man” was the illegitimate son of a wealthy lawyer. Leonardo remained in Florence together with his father till 30, studying and working, but earing. In 1482 he was engaged by the Duke of Milan as a military engineer. He devised numerous types of equipment in this position, such as chemical smoke to armored vehicles and powerful weapons. Once, he designed a gun that was capable of producing a rain of shots.

While working as an architect in Milan, he designed streets, canals, churches, staircases, stables, brothels, central heating systems, satellite towns, etc.

In 1497 he completed his famous painting “Last Supper.”

In 1499, Leonardo was in Venice. The war with Turkey was there, and he produced many innovations to sink the Turkish fleet. But his ideas were considered too expensive to be put into use.

After returning to Florence after 1500, Venice start work on his famous painting “Mona Lisa” in 1503. After three years of hard work, it was completed in 1506. Now, this painting is on display in Louvre Museum in France.

Leonardo created many innovative designs of flying machines, both with flapping wings and rotating propellers. He gave detailed sketches of the human body, constructed a water-clock, and suggested ball bearings.

He spent the final stage of his life as the guest of King Francis I of Rome, who granted him a pension.

This great universal man passed away in 1519 at the age of 67.

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The Italian Renaissance: Leonardo Da Vinci Essay

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Introduction

Distinct features of the renaissance, leonardo’s techniques and contribution to the renaissance, leonardo’s weaknesses and distinctness from other renaissance artists, works cited.

The renaissance was a period in history where Europe underwent a rebirth in its perception of art. It marked the transformation of the continent from the middle ages to the modern era. The renaissance was the starting point for the development of concepts such as individualism, secularism as well as capitalism. In art, most works were associated with geometric representations of the natural world.

However, some scholars are quick to warn others about the dangers of bracketing all artists in the renaissance into one similar group because some individuals do not fit neatly into these patterns. While other Italian artists may fall outside conventional understandings of art in the renaissance, Leonardo de Vinci does not; his work exemplifies this radical transformation in the representation of images and forms on various media.

Renaissance art was known for its focus on personalities, attitudes or emotions rather than just the outlines or forms of the images being represented. Artists were able to capture emotion even in sculptures, especially the unsupported nude (Maginnis 14). Most of their forms had great emotional intensity and thus appeared more natural.

This was also a time when paintings or drawings became more realistic than they had ever been before (Saari & Saari 44). Most of the artists who achieved this goal utilised the concept of perspective in their work. They made their two-dimensional representations seem very similar to three-dimensional figures.

The ability to manipulate light and darkness in renaissance work also made artistic quite authentic (Jurdjevic 250). These artists knew how to work with tone and they would play with contrast in a manner that achieved their desired goal.

As stated earlier, the renaissance was a time in history when Europe started experiencing elements of secularism (Hay 130). In the period before the renaissance, most artists were intent on promoting religious devotion through their work. However, in the renaissance era, artists started doing some mythological representations and focused on subjects outside of religion. It should be noted that the extent to which this occurred was rather small. However, secular paintings were still a reality (Hart & Wilkins 23).

Lastly, the renaissance was also associated with the accurate representation of images and forms in space. This was manifested through effective use of motion. Images in this era, therefore, focused on correctness and logic rather than unscientific work (Macdonald 9).

Leonardo is best known for his superior use of light and shade in his artistic work. This was a concept that made his paintings more realistic and came to be a distinct feature of the renaissance period. As such, Da Vinci was a true renaissance artist. A typical case of how he used light and shade wistfully was his painting of ‘Virgin and Child with a Cat’. In this artwork, Leonardo was able to capture the mass of his subjects through effective use of light and shade (Van Cleave 86).

Leonardo mastered this technique by analysing his life-sized sculptures. They often replicated the manner in which light and shade fell on real human subjects. It was this ability to transform such abstract concepts, such as light and reflection, to artistic works that made Leonardo highly valued in the renaissance.

O’Connor (50) explains that Leonardo’s ability to manipulate light and darkness stemmed from his intense study of optics. The artist wanted to learn more about the phenomenon of light transmission. He, therefore, used science in order to accomplish his artistic goals. At the time, the individual focused on using real human eyes to study light. He obtained eyes from medical colleagues and discovered a way of hardening different layers of the eye.

He then came up with theories on how light was reflected by the different components. Although these concepts seemed far-fetched at the time, and most medical scientists rejected his ideas, Da Vinci’s theories proved to be quite practical for his designs as well as his artistic work (McHam 53).

He found out that light travels in waves and that the eye worked as a lens. Such ideas assisted him in accurately representing his paintings. The comprehensive scientific work done by Da Vinci exemplifies the need to focus on scientific representation of form. Leonardo was a true renaissance artist because he strived for correct representation of form through scientific mechanisms.

Geometric calculations and intense preparations were famous methods used by renaissance artists to increase the accuracy their work, and Da Vinci was no exception (Kavaler 16). When Leonardo lived in Milan, his ruler had talked about the desire to make a bronze horse with a rider on it. When Leonardo heard about this interest, he took it upon himself to research about the item intensely. He learnt a lot about bronze casting and then observed horses at rest, racing horses as well as prancing horses.

He disentangled various components of the horse’s body part and worked on them independently. Thereafter, Da Vinci was commissioned with the job, and he created a clay model of a horse and its rider. The model was quite huge and profoundly detailed. Leonardo worked out a way of determining how much bronze he would need to cover the clay model from top to bottom. Once again, he relied on scientific methods of measurements and dimension.

The clay mould was never transformed into a bronze statue because Italy diverted its bronze elements for use in making weapons (O’Connor 55). However, the intense and meticulous preparation of the artist is a depiction of his renaissance leanings. He always wanted to make his sculptures and paintings as accurate as possible, and to do this well, then scientific or geometric methods came in handy (Langley 92).

Leonardo often created pieces that captured emotions effectively and seemed magical in the way they represented the human form. A case in point is the Mona Lisa, which is, arguably, the most famous painting ever made by a renaissance artist. Art lovers and critics alike still remain fascinated by the image of the ‘Mona Lisa’. People have imitated and reproduced the ‘Mona Lisa’ in an attempt to demystify this creation.

The same thing may be said about his portraits of beautiful women such as ‘Cecilia Gallarani’. There was a high degree of depth in these pieces because the women were not just beautiful; they had a contemplative and pensive countenance. Da Vinci superbly captured these qualities in his work and thus exemplified the renaissance tendency to portray human emotion so well.

The women in these portraits appeared to have something to hide. However, instead of revealing to the audience what the model was concealing, Da Vinci preferred to show the concealment in order to allow audiences to speculate about those missing components for themselves.

Da Vinci was also widely reputed for his ability to capture movement and mass with subtlety. In the portrait “Virgin of the rocks” the artist had a way of moving from shapes to tones without demonstration of any sort of contours in his pieces. The delicateness of the features in this painting, and many others was evidence of the fact that Leonardo had a deep-seated ability to smoothly transition between forms.

Da Vinci’s promienence as a renaissance artist also stemmed from his capacity to coordinate attitude and the human anatomy perfectly. The artist knew how to demonstrate position and motion in the human body by relating it to the physique of the subject (Keele 366). As a result, his paintings were quite natural.

Many armature contemporaries did not understand this relationship. Consequently, most of them did not change the way muscles looked in different parts of the body, such as the arms, stomach, as well as the back. Their images always seemed to lack adequate emotion. Leonardo explained that it was essential to match attitude with the position of the subject (Kemp and Wallae 87).

To achieve this, one must consider some possible thoughts of the concerned models. Da Vinci often thought about mutes who solely rely on motion in their eyes, back, and feet in order to express what they think about. Alternatively Da Vinci knew how to match the age of the subject with the nature of the attitude that they had.

For instance, Leonardo proposed that when drawing an old man, in the standing position, one must refrain from spreading his legs too wide (Keele 366). Additionally, various muscles and body parts must be used to echo this position. For instance, the person should have bent knees and he ought to have straddled feet. A crooked back would be appropriate as well as stooping shoulders. It would also be fitting for the old person to wear a dull and sluggish look (Richter 101).

This attention to details revolving around the human anatomy made Da Vinci’s work come to life. It alludes to the propensity for the use of science in his work. The artist understood the clinical asymmetry of the human body. He knew that the neck area, hip area and shoulders often exhibit the greatest variability in motion.

As result, it was necessary to alter these traits in order to meet his objectives. Leonardo thought of the human body as some sort of moving machine (Keele 368). Consequently, he was right to assert that the body was governed by mechanical laws. These concepts were indeed revolutionary because medical scientists did not understand them at the time.

Nonetheless, they explained why Da Vinci captured attitude so effortlessly in his work. It is this combination of scientific techniques to achieve true representation that makes him an exemplary renaissance case (Gelb 99).

While Leonardo was one of the most influential figures in the renaissance, some of his work was wanting because of his artistic temperament. The individual rarely focused on one thing at a time. He was fascinated by all he saw, and wanted to figure out how things worked. The problem with this attitude was that Leonardo often got bored with certain projects. He would start working on a piece of art and leave it half way (Van Cleave 86).

Furthermore, sometimes he focused so much on experimenting that it often got in the way of actual artistic work. A case in point was the painting of the “Battle of Aughiari”. Leonardo was experimenting with new techniques of paint application. Although the work had initially been appealing, this changed dramatically owing to deterioration of the paint quality (Van Cleave 86), (Welch 64).

Consequently, Da Vinci’s propensity for experimentation sometimes harmed his work. Beckett (5) explains that Da Vinci’s many talents caused him to place too much importance on other fields and thus treat his artistry lightly.

To a certain extent, many experts have come to associate the renaissance period with fresco painting. It was a method that renaissance artists preferred because not only was it a cheaper way of creating artistic pieces, but it also lasted longer than cloth, which was the form that inspired fresco painters (Lopez 204). The method required a lot if investment in artistic skill even though one did not need to use a lot of labour for the same.

As a result, artists had to be careful about the way the work was done. One must prepare a wall surface and then create the right scaffolding. Artists needed to consider the weather when making fresco paintings. If they exposed their painting to wet or cold weather, then this would cause the plaster to remain wet. Alternatively, if a painter did fresco painting when it was dry, then chances are that a part of the painting would dry before completing it.

Some artists looked for creative ways of dealing with the problem by combining oil and tempera (Welch 66). Da Vinci used his own approach to fresco painting by using with oil, although this did not work. It is likely that his divided attention may have led to the problem. Currently, images of paintings that he made with this technique were disastrous because he did not give the method the time that it needed to develop the right approach.

Leonardo was exceptional because he represented how artists could meet the objective of the renaissance era. The unique depictions of the human form could not be easily replicated by other artists. Many of the painters, who tried, only succeeded in imitating one or two elements of Leonardo’s work but never the entire piece (Turner 60).

In this regard, one can assert that Leonardo’s influence stood apart from what other renowned artists had accomplished in the renaissance. Therefore, one can argue that Leonardo stood apart from others as an artist and this reduced his influence in the era.

The subject matter of most of Da Vinci’s paintings was religious and traditional. In most circumstances he dwelt on angels and ordinary people. Therefore, one can assert that there were minimal secular themes in Da Vinci’s work. In this regard, he did not advance secularism as was the case for certain renaissance artists (Burke 15).

Leonardo was an exemplary renaissance artist owing to his focus on accurately presenting images on two dimensional media. He used geometric and scientific methods to achieve this. Da Vinci also balanced light and darkness just like other renaissance artists. Leonardo captured the emotion and attitudes of his subject as was expected in the renaissance. In this regard, he was an exemplary artist. Some deviations from such expectations do not change this fact.

Burke, Peter. The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy . Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999. Print.

Beckett, Wendy. Leonardo Da Vinci 2010. Web.. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/L/leonardo.html

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

Hartt, Frederick and Wilkins, David. History of Italian Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. London: Thames and Hudson, 2003. Print.

Hay, Denys. The Italian Renaissance in Its Historical Background. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977. Print.

Jurdjevic, Mark. “Hedgehogs and Foxes: The Present and Future of Italian Renaissance Intellectual History. “ Past & Present 195(2007): 241-268. Print.

Kavaler, Ethan. “Renaissance Gothic: Pictures of Geometry and Narratives of Ornament.” Art History 29.1(2006): 1-46.

Keele, Kenneth. Leonardo Da Vinci’s Infleunce on Renaissance Anatomy n.d. Web.

Kemp, Martin & Wallae Marina. Spectacular Bodies: The Art and Science of the Human Body from Leonardo to Now. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001. Print.

Langley, Andrew. Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. Philadelphia, Pa.: Running Press, 2001. Print.

Lopez, Robert Sabatino, The Three Ages of the Italian Renaissance. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1970. Print.

Macdonald, Fiona. The World in the Time of Leonardo da Vinci . Parsippany, N.J: Dillon Press, 1998. Print.

Maginnis, Hayden. Painting in the Age of Giotto: A Historical Reevaluation , Oxford: OUP, 1997. Print.

McHam, Sarah. Looking at Italian Renaissance Sculpture . Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998. Print.

O’Connor, Barbara. Leonardo Da Vinci: Renaissance Genius . MN: Carolhoda Books, 2003. Print.

Richter, Irma. The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci . Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1998. Print.

Saari, Peggy & Saari, Aaron. Julie Carnagie, project: Renaissance & Reformation, Primary Sources . Detroit :UXL, 2002. Print.

Turner, Jane. Encyclopaedia of Italian Renaissance and Mannerist Art. Chicago: Doubleday, 2000. Print.

Van Cleave, Claire. Master Drawings of the Italian Renaissance . Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2007. Print.

Welch Evelyne. Art in Renaissance Italy . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.

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Leonardo da Vinci Essay Sample

Leonardo da Vinci was a genius. He is widely known for his numerous achievements in diverse areas such as art, science, and engineering. In this essay, we will explore the life of Leonardo da Vinci and how he has influenced our world today. This essay will discuss the role of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper within its historical context.

Essay Example on Leonardo da Vinci

• Thesis Statement of Leonardo da Vinci Essay
• Introduction of Leonardo da Vinci Essay
• Main Body of Leonardo da Vinci Essay

Thesis Statement of Leonardo da Vinci Essay Although art and science were an essential part of Da Vinci’s life, he is most widely known for his numerous contributions in the field of engineering. Introduction of Leonardo da Vinci Essay Leonardo da Vinci needs no introduction to the people because of his popular contribution in every field of life during the period of renaissance in Europe. His marvelous contribution to painting art is unforgettable as the renowned painting Mona Lisa is not lacking its sheen in the modern time even. This shows how popular and admirable Leonardo da Vinci was during his time. He did not show his talent in the single field only as he imparted a great contribution in the world of science, engineering, and literature as well. If we give in-depth care to his works we can see the depth of philosophy in various works of the Vinci in which he worked for the welfare of society. Main Body of Leonardo da Vinci Essay Being a renaissance man he used to be very much enthusiastic about the new things and learning them. Printing press enables him to approach the different writings of the people and their opinions on the subject and that makes out him one of the famous and great jewels of his age. We cannot find people like Leonardo da Vinci in modern times who are equally professional in every arena of life under tough circumstances. Vinci gets most of his admiration for the painting Mona Lisa which holds records and earned the highest price for it. An oil painting that was prepared at that time was popular just because of this person who is the father of many things and invented them for a Nobel cause. Buy Customized Essay on Leonardo da Vinci At Cheapest Price Order Now As far as the success of science and its development is concerned we cannot forget the role of Leonardo da Vinci to start the various new things in science which later evolves out at major discoveries and inventions in the world. In the limited number of sources and tough situations he survived and managed to make a piece of the work which is hard to compare to date to any other piece of art. Many painters are still chasing the perfection that they find in the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci. Although we cannot doubt the modern painters still no one can compete with the person Leonardo da Vinci which had a unique vision for art and was admired across the length and breadth of the globe wholeheartedly. His fans are crazy about the Mona Lisa painting and get it on their favorite bedrooms and other material stuff to show their respect towards the art. Learning from the experiences of Vinci can give a big divert to the lives of people who want to excel in more than one field. But then you have to make sure that each field you are opting for is your hobby and you are doing it for your own interest and not to show others that you are a genius. That is how you can take the benefit of the life experiences of Leonardo da Vinci easily. Have a look: Essay Sample on Franchising Code – Conduct, Competitor And Consumer Act Conclusion If we conclude the essay on Leonardo da Vinci we will come to know that he was not a person having perfection in a single field. Equal professionalism in every side of life can be shown only by a superhuman and Vinci was a real master of the art, science, and other spheres of life which is an undeniable fact. His contribution to society cannot be forgotten at any cost with the passage of time because comparing his art with the modern time would be an injustice to him as he did all this when there was no sign of technology for making beautiful paintings like the one he made during his period of life. Very few people like Vinci take birth on this earth and we cannot skip praising them throughout our life. Hire USA Experts for Leonardo da Vinci Essay Order Now

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Essays on Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance and is widely regarded as one of the greatest artists and thinkers of all time. Writing an essay on Leonardo Da Vinci is important as it allows us to delve deeper into his life, work, and legacy, and to gain a better understanding of his impact on art, science, and society.

When writing an essay on Leonardo Da Vinci, it is important to consider the following tips:

• Research extensively: Leonardo Da Vinci had a multifaceted career, excelling in various fields such as painting, sculpture, engineering, anatomy, and architecture. It is important to conduct thorough research to gather comprehensive information about his life and work.
• Organize your thoughts: Before starting to write, make sure to organize your thoughts and create an outline for your essay. This will help you structure your essay and ensure that you cover all the important aspects of Leonardo Da Vinci's life and contributions.
• Focus on key accomplishments: Leonardo Da Vinci's contributions to art and science are vast, but it is important to focus on his key accomplishments and their impact. Whether it's his iconic paintings like the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, or his groundbreaking scientific observations and inventions, make sure to highlight the most significant aspects of his work.
• Provide critical analysis: In addition to presenting factual information, it is important to provide critical analysis of Leonardo Da Vinci's work. Discuss the significance of his art and scientific discoveries, and explore how they have influenced subsequent generations and continue to inspire people today.
• Conclude with a reflection: Finally, conclude your essay with a reflection on Leonardo Da Vinci's enduring legacy and the lessons we can learn from his life and work. Consider the relevance of his ideas and innovations in the modern world and their lasting impact on art, science, and human creativity.

Best Leonardo Da Vinci Essay Topics

• The Influence of Leonardo Da Vinci's Inventions on Modern Technology
• The Mona Lisa: Unraveling the Mystery Behind the Painting
• Leonardo Da Vinci's Codex Atlanticus: Decoding his Manuscripts
• The Last Supper: A Masterpiece of Perspective and Composition
• Leonardo Da Vinci's Flying Machines: Ahead of his Time
• The Vitruvian Man: Exploring the Ideal Human Proportions
• The Legacy of Leonardo Da Vinci's Scientific Discoveries
• The Artistic Techniques of Leonardo Da Vinci: A Study in Mastery
• Leonardo Da Vinci's Anatomical Studies: Pioneering the Science of Human Anatomy
• The Role of Mathematics in Leonardo Da Vinci's Art and Designs
• The Lost Works of Leonardo Da Vinci: Uncovering Hidden Treasures
• The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci: A Multifaceted Renaissance Man
• The Artistic Rivalry Between Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo
• Leonardo Da Vinci's Engineering Marvels: Designing the Unthinkable
• The Mona Lisa: A Symbol of Beauty and Mystery
• The Scientific Mind of Leonardo Da Vinci: Exploring his Observations and Experiments
• Leonardo Da Vinci's Legacy in Art and Science: A Lasting Impact
• The Codex Leicester: Leonardo Da Vinci's Scientific Legacy
• The Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci: A Window into his Creative Process
• The Vitruvian Man: Examining the Intersection of Art and Science

Leonardo Da Vinci Essay Topics Prompts

• Imagine you have the opportunity to interview Leonardo Da Vinci. What questions would you ask him and why?
• Create a fictional dialogue between Leonardo Da Vinci and a contemporary artist or scientist. How would their conversation unfold?
• Write a persuasive essay arguing why Leonardo Da Vinci's contributions to science are as significant as his artistic achievements.
• If Leonardo Da Vinci were alive today, what modern-day problems or challenges do you think he would be most interested in solving and why?
• Choose one of Leonardo Da Vinci's inventions or artworks and write a detailed analysis of its significance in the context of his time and its relevance today.

Leonardo Da Vinci Major Accomplishments

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The Life, Works Impact, and Success of Leonardo Da Vinci

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A Brief Look at Leonardo Da Vinci and His Contribution to Art and Science

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Leonardo Da Vinci and His Masterpieces

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Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci[2]14/15 April 1452Anchiano, Vinci, Republic of Florence (present-day Italy)

2 May 1519(1519-05-02) (aged 67)Clos Lucé, Amboise, Kingdom of France

Painting, drawing, sculpting, science, engineering, architecture, anatomy

• Virgin of the Rocks (c. 1483–1493)
• Lady with an Ermine (c. 1489–1491)
• The Vitruvian Man (c. 1490)
• The Last Supper (c. 1492–1498)
• Salvator Mundi (c. 1499–1510)
• Mona Lisa (c. 1503–1516)

High Renaissance

15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose skill and intelligence, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. His Last Supper (1495–98) and Mona Lisa (c. 1503–19) are among the most widely popular and influential paintings of the Renaissance.

“Battle of Anghiari”, “Last Supper”, “Leda”, “Mona Lisa”, “Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci”, “St. Jerome”, “The Benois Madonna”, “The Virgin of the Rocks”, “Treatise on Painting”, “Virgin and Child with St. Anne”

Among the qualities that make da Vinci’s work unique are the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the paint, his detailed knowledge of anatomy, his use of the human form in figurative composition, and his use of sfumato. Leonardo was also a master at “chiaroscuro," an Italian term meaning “light/dark."

Leonardo is identified as one of the greatest painters in the history of art and is often credited as the founder of the High Renaissance. Despite having many lost works and less than 25 attributed major works — including numerous unfinished works — he created some of the most influential paintings in Western art. His magnum opus, the Mona Lisa, is his best known work and often regarded as the world's most famous painting. The Last Supper is the most reproduced religious painting of all time and his Vitruvian Man drawing is also regarded as a cultural icon.

Leonardo is sometimes credited as the inventor of the tank, helicopter, parachute, and flying machine, among other vehicles and devices, but later scholarship has disputed such claims. Nonetheless, Leonardo’s notebooks reveal a sharp intellect, and his contributions to art, including methods of representing space, three-dimensional objects, and the human figure, cannot be overstated.

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” “A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.” “Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.”

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