Leonardo DaVinci
Created | Updated Mar 16, 2006
Leonardo DaVinci
Andrew Jin
Leonardo DaVinci has always held interest for me. He was one of the greatest geniuses that ever walked the face of the earth. He has been the subject of many books and movies like the DaVinci Code, which is one of the best books ever written. It all started when he was young. Even then, he showed remarkable talent at observing detail. He was born in 1452 in a small town, on the outskirts of Florence called Vinci. Leonardo’s name literally means “Leonardo from Vinci.” His father was a wealthy lawyer, but he thought that his son spent too much time “dawdling with nature,” so his father did not waste an education on Leonardo. Without a proper education, Leonardo had many career paths closed to him. No guild, University or school accepted Leo, so he was apprenticed to a famous artist Verrochino.
Leonardo was born with unnatural talent, but after studying with Verrochino his skill increased even more. In Verrochino’s workshop, Leonardo wrought miracles with a paintbrush. For five years, Leonardo worked away. It was in that dusty old shop that he painted his first masterpiece. It was called Annunciation, and it depicted the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. This was a topic that Leonardo would later return to.
At the age of almost thirty, Leonardo graduated from his apprenticeship and left Florence for the town of Milan. Milan was a mighty fortress, for it was frequently attacked by its enemies. Leonardo needed a wealthy patron to support him and his art, but unfortunately no one fit this description in Florence. The King of Milan was quite enthusiastic to have the famous Leonardo DaVinci, but some sort of misunderstanding occurred so Leonardo ended up painting an altarpiece for a nearby church. This was Leonardo’s second great work, called Virgin of the Rocks.
Once again, the Virgin Mary was the focus of this painting but this one included the infant Jesus and his disciple John. They were both babies. This picture attracted the attention of all of Milan, and so Leonardo became quite famous.
Just as Leonardo was settling down to enjoy a quiet life, Milan was invaded by France, so for 30 years he roamed between France, Milan and Rome. Imagine the disappointment Leonardo had toward the end of his life. All around him, artists were doing great work and getting richer and more famous. He had done almost nothing, and the few important paintings he had done no one had acknowledged. By then, his father had died and so had his uncle.
In that miserable time, he was rescued by the King of France. All the king needed was Leonardo’s conversation. Leonardo spent most of the rest of his life serving the King of France in the Chateau de Cloux. The King often talked to Leonardo about things such as philosophy. Leonardo got almost no work done. By the time the King finally left to go to his other palace, Leonardo was grateful to be able to ponder about the Universe in quiet seclusion. Finally, on the second of May 1519, Leonardo DaVinci died peacefully.
Leonardo’s fascination with nature began at a very early age. It was his uncle who evoked the emotions Leonardo had for his whole life for nature. Often times, Leonardo and his uncle would run and jump and play and study the nature surrounding his home in the forest. Sometimes, they even forgot to eat because they were having so much fun frolicking in the leaves and grass.
But that was not all that Leonardo remembered about nature from his childhood. The town of Vinci was relatively high up, so it had a view of all the surrounding land. Once, a tornado came and ravaged a nearby town. Another time, a massive flood completely decimated another town. Leonardo was a witness to both of these events, and they changed his opinion of nature forever. At the early age to see this, Leonardo was awed by nature’s power and from then on devoted his life to the study of nature in order to harness its power so he can help humans live better lives.
Leonardo is gone, but many clues of his existence are around today. Many of the things we use, such as barbecues and scissors wouldn’t be here without Leonardo. But he is not recognized for his inventions. Instead, Leonardo is most famous for his paintings. His three best would be the Mona Lisa, Virgin of the Rocks and The Last Supper. Of those, the Mona Lisa is considered to be the most famous painting ever painted. It utilizes Leonardo’s sfumato technique, which allows colours to blend into each other. Leonardo used the eye’s tendency to see blurrier as objects grew further, so the background is very hazy. The Mona Lisa is special not because it is amazingly done, but it is because the Mona Lisa is Leonardo’s own favorite work. They say that it appears that she’s looking directly at you from wherever you look at her. As for who it is, nobody is sure. There are many theories, but most people think that she’s just someone Leonardo met in Florence.
Leonardo was the first person to ever study anatomy. He would exhume the bodies of humans, to see what lay behind the thin layer of skin. Then, he would make detailed drawings. Over a period of 25 years, Leonardo dissected 30 bodies and made 200 drawings of what he saw. The work was nasty because bodies would often start to decay before he was finished dissecting them, so Leonardo often smelled terrible.
He is one of the most misunderstood people in history. Not many people know it, but the tank, helicopter, barbecue and scissors were all his idea. Leonardo also started many ideas. The credit for Newton’s First Law of Physics should go to Leonardo, as well as recognition for discovering that water expands when it boils. All this information was discovered in little booklets that Leonardo wrote at about the age of 30. Only 2/3 of these booklets were ever found, but they have a lot of information in them.
The greatest thing Leonardo ever tried to accomplish was to fly. He had been fascinated at how birds could fly, and often observed them. There were many stories about him as a child, how he would buy birds just so he could set them free in the market. After pursuing the subject of flight for many years, it became an obsession for him. He made many designs for many different flying machines, none of which would actually take off from the ground. He actually attempted some of these designs even though he probably knew that it was futile to try to attack gravity that way.
Leonardo was one of the most brilliant people to have ever lived. He proved that artists could be important, and not just simple artisans. The social class of the artist and the sculptor was raised in his time by Leonardo. He was even the first real scientist, by conducting experiments much like we do today. The scientific process was invented by Leonardo as well as the importance of recording everything that we note. These special methods are with us today. The world would not have been the same without Leonardo DaVinci.
Andrew Jin
Leonardo DaVinci has always held interest for me. He was one of the greatest geniuses that ever walked the face of the earth. He has been the subject of many books and movies like the DaVinci Code, which is one of the best books ever written. It all started when he was young. Even then, he showed remarkable talent at observing detail. He was born in 1452 in a small town, on the outskirts of Florence called Vinci. Leonardo’s name literally means “Leonardo from Vinci.” His father was a wealthy lawyer, but he thought that his son spent too much time “dawdling with nature,” so his father did not waste an education on Leonardo. Without a proper education, Leonardo had many career paths closed to him. No guild, University or school accepted Leo, so he was apprenticed to a famous artist Verrochino.
Leonardo was born with unnatural talent, but after studying with Verrochino his skill increased even more. In Verrochino’s workshop, Leonardo wrought miracles with a paintbrush. For five years, Leonardo worked away. It was in that dusty old shop that he painted his first masterpiece. It was called Annunciation, and it depicted the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. This was a topic that Leonardo would later return to.
At the age of almost thirty, Leonardo graduated from his apprenticeship and left Florence for the town of Milan. Milan was a mighty fortress, for it was frequently attacked by its enemies. Leonardo needed a wealthy patron to support him and his art, but unfortunately no one fit this description in Florence. The King of Milan was quite enthusiastic to have the famous Leonardo DaVinci, but some sort of misunderstanding occurred so Leonardo ended up painting an altarpiece for a nearby church. This was Leonardo’s second great work, called Virgin of the Rocks.
Once again, the Virgin Mary was the focus of this painting but this one included the infant Jesus and his disciple John. They were both babies. This picture attracted the attention of all of Milan, and so Leonardo became quite famous.
Just as Leonardo was settling down to enjoy a quiet life, Milan was invaded by France, so for 30 years he roamed between France, Milan and Rome. Imagine the disappointment Leonardo had toward the end of his life. All around him, artists were doing great work and getting richer and more famous. He had done almost nothing, and the few important paintings he had done no one had acknowledged. By then, his father had died and so had his uncle.
In that miserable time, he was rescued by the King of France. All the king needed was Leonardo’s conversation. Leonardo spent most of the rest of his life serving the King of France in the Chateau de Cloux. The King often talked to Leonardo about things such as philosophy. Leonardo got almost no work done. By the time the King finally left to go to his other palace, Leonardo was grateful to be able to ponder about the Universe in quiet seclusion. Finally, on the second of May 1519, Leonardo DaVinci died peacefully.
Leonardo’s fascination with nature began at a very early age. It was his uncle who evoked the emotions Leonardo had for his whole life for nature. Often times, Leonardo and his uncle would run and jump and play and study the nature surrounding his home in the forest. Sometimes, they even forgot to eat because they were having so much fun frolicking in the leaves and grass.
But that was not all that Leonardo remembered about nature from his childhood. The town of Vinci was relatively high up, so it had a view of all the surrounding land. Once, a tornado came and ravaged a nearby town. Another time, a massive flood completely decimated another town. Leonardo was a witness to both of these events, and they changed his opinion of nature forever. At the early age to see this, Leonardo was awed by nature’s power and from then on devoted his life to the study of nature in order to harness its power so he can help humans live better lives.
Leonardo is gone, but many clues of his existence are around today. Many of the things we use, such as barbecues and scissors wouldn’t be here without Leonardo. But he is not recognized for his inventions. Instead, Leonardo is most famous for his paintings. His three best would be the Mona Lisa, Virgin of the Rocks and The Last Supper. Of those, the Mona Lisa is considered to be the most famous painting ever painted. It utilizes Leonardo’s sfumato technique, which allows colours to blend into each other. Leonardo used the eye’s tendency to see blurrier as objects grew further, so the background is very hazy. The Mona Lisa is special not because it is amazingly done, but it is because the Mona Lisa is Leonardo’s own favorite work. They say that it appears that she’s looking directly at you from wherever you look at her. As for who it is, nobody is sure. There are many theories, but most people think that she’s just someone Leonardo met in Florence.
Leonardo was the first person to ever study anatomy. He would exhume the bodies of humans, to see what lay behind the thin layer of skin. Then, he would make detailed drawings. Over a period of 25 years, Leonardo dissected 30 bodies and made 200 drawings of what he saw. The work was nasty because bodies would often start to decay before he was finished dissecting them, so Leonardo often smelled terrible.
He is one of the most misunderstood people in history. Not many people know it, but the tank, helicopter, barbecue and scissors were all his idea. Leonardo also started many ideas. The credit for Newton’s First Law of Physics should go to Leonardo, as well as recognition for discovering that water expands when it boils. All this information was discovered in little booklets that Leonardo wrote at about the age of 30. Only 2/3 of these booklets were ever found, but they have a lot of information in them.
The greatest thing Leonardo ever tried to accomplish was to fly. He had been fascinated at how birds could fly, and often observed them. There were many stories about him as a child, how he would buy birds just so he could set them free in the market. After pursuing the subject of flight for many years, it became an obsession for him. He made many designs for many different flying machines, none of which would actually take off from the ground. He actually attempted some of these designs even though he probably knew that it was futile to try to attack gravity that way.
Leonardo was one of the most brilliant people to have ever lived. He proved that artists could be important, and not just simple artisans. The social class of the artist and the sculptor was raised in his time by Leonardo. He was even the first real scientist, by conducting experiments much like we do today. The scientific process was invented by Leonardo as well as the importance of recording everything that we note. These special methods are with us today. The world would not have been the same without Leonardo DaVinci.
