Life and Works of Leonardo Da Vinci Essay Example For Students

Life and Works of Leonardo Da Vinci Essay One of the most creative minds of Italian Renaissance not only as a great painter but also as a skilled sculptor, architect and a talented engineer, Leonardo da Vinci was born on 15th April 1452 near the Tuscan town of Vinci. He was an illegitimate child of Ser Pierro da Vinci an influential local lawyer and a young peasant girl named Caterina, who were in wedlock. Leonardo spent his early childhood till 1457 in a amlet of Anchiano, 5 km from Vinci with his mother and her parents. His father San Pierro, after a series of marriages and divorces eventually married to a lady from wealthy family where 5 year old Leonardo was a welcome addition. As a child Leonardo was very intelligent with a great talent for arithmetic and playing lyre as well as singing. His early education was done at home in Vinci where he lived in a big estate with his father, stepmother, several brothers and sisters and most importantly his Uncle Francesco who was a farmer and had a love for nature. Young Leonardo pent a great deal of time with his uncle working outdoors, drawing sketches and found him influential during his formative years. Leonardo was educated in various fields including arithmetic, geometry, music and latin till the age of 14. However, it was his drawing and painting skills that stood out foremost and to further develop his talents, at the age of 15, he went for apprenticeship to the then, renowned workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence. Florence in those early Renaissance days was an independent republic and a commercial centre, and was developing into hub of artistic talent that was seminal in shaping the Italian Renaissance. Andrea del Verrochios workshop was among the best in Florence and was associated with education of several great Renaissance artists apart from Leonardo like Perugino, Ghirlandaio, and Sandro Boticelli. During the apprenticeship Leonardo learnt not only painting, sculpting and modelling, but also a wide variety of technical trade skills like drafting, metallurgy, plaster casting, chemistry, mechanics and carpentry. He used his scientific understanding to enhance his paintings. He studied and sketched rocks, caves, fossils, birds and horses. Later during the apprenticeship he started developing his own niche in inventing flying machines, diving suites etc. Among one of the earliest works of Leonardo was his contribution in the painting Baptism of Christ along with Verrochio in 1472 where he painted the face of an angel holding Jesus robe. His work pleased Verrochio so much that he gave Leonardo bigger projects and Leonardo stayed at the workshop till 1477 creating fine examples of art. In search of new challenges, and money, Leonardo went to serve the Duke of Milan in 1482. He worked for 17 years in Milan on various projects including painting, culpting, designing for elaborate festivals and also provided the Duke with 1485 to 1490 he produced experiments and studies based on a wide variety of subjects like flying machines, geometry, mechanics, municipal constructions, canals and bridges, war vehicles, combat equipments etc. He also supplied the Duke with war strategies and made him his strong patron. It was also during this time, he performed studies on structure of human anatomy at his buzzing workshop in Milan. He would often spend time outside studying nature or experimenting secretly in his workshop dissecting body parts of the dead to reveal the human anatomy, much gainst the conventional norms of the church. Leonardos curios mind compelled him to skip from one thing to other and hence a majority of Leonardos work is unfinished. During the 17 years at Milan, Leonardo completed only 6 paintings the most notable of them being The Last Supper and Virgin on the Rocks. During the last decade of the 1 5th century, Leonardo also developed a habit of maintaining his personal notebook, in which he used to draw sketches and write about his observations. His work covered four main themes: painting, architecture, mechanics and human anatomy nd is preserved in codices which are still being studied by many historians. In 1499, after the invasion of Milan by the French and the fall of Ludovico Sforza, Leonardo worked for several employers and travelled to various places in Italy including Venice, Florence, Rome, working on variety of projects. His most notable work, Mona Lisa was begun in 1503 and completed in 1506/07. During the last three years, Leonardo also served the Medici family in France where his patron King Frances I gifted him with a luxurious Chateau du Clos Luce at Amboise. Leonardo suffered paralysis in right hand during his old age in late sixties, but still he ontinued teaching. He died in on 2 May, 1519, aged 67 years, in his Chateau at Amboise. As per the legend, King Frances I was by his side at the time of his death. Contribution to Renaissance Leonardos scientific investigations and artworks have been seminal in influencing an ignorant early Renaissance Italian society on the path of knowledge, reasoning and science. Life is Beautiful - Surviving the Holocaust EssayThe painting reveals distance and the subject appears to be sitting closer to the viewer than the background. The dark hue of Mona Lisas dress contrasts with the lighter hues in the background and wrinkles on her dress are clearly silhouetted by the interplay of light and shade. Detailing of the portrait is done meticulously as the lines on her dress are repeated in a natural fashion and so are the line used to create roads and trees in background to form a realism in painting. Another interesting observation about Mona Lisa is the use of perspective whereby all lines lead to a single vanishing point behind her head a technique which many artists of early renaissance tried to develop like Perugino, Masaccio etc. Leonardo was also a master of using symbolism and here, he painted the right arm of the subject rested on left which personifies her as a loyal married woman of virtue, instead of using a wedding ring as a symbol. The mysterious smile is depicted by slight extensions at the end of the lips where as the eyes are stagnant at the viewer are the only communication with the audience. This creates an enigmatic, mysterious mood in the painting further accentuated by the conflicting landscape which exemplifies an approaching storm. The Last Supper: The Last Supper is a large mural painting done with tempura and oil paint on plaster, ade by Leonardo da Vinci in 1495-98, at the behest of Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan. The painting is done on the wall of the refectory in the Monastery of Sta. Maria delle Grazie in Milan, where it complemented the communal monastic dinners. The Last Supper has been painted by many artists before and many artists after Leonardo did, and each of those versions revealed various perspectives. The version by Leonardo da Vinci consisted of a scene from the life of Jesus Christ as taken from Bible, whereby he is having the last supper with his 12 disciples and reveals that one f them would betray him. The painting explores various human emotions with expressions of shock, betrayal, surprise, and most importantly guilt on Judas face. Jesus is seated in the centre with 12 disciples seating on his either sides in a total of four triads. As a master of symbolism, Leonardo draws a figurative representation of approaching Jesus sacrifice for the salvation of mankind, the foundation of institution of mass or even a pre-fguration of the gathering of this local monastic community for communal meals. The triads symbolize the holy trinity and four groups suggest the our elements of universe fire, water, air and earth four directions, four seasons in just behind Jesus head and the one point linear perspective is accentuated by the tapestries on the sides of the walls that get shorter as they recede. This exemplifies distance and thus a three dimensional image on a plane. The pyramidal form of Jesus is accentuated by a meticulous geometric set up of the painting that covers the entire wall of the refectory and is strategically set up within the interior architectural design of the building. The dramatic feel is created by a Judicious use of light that ppears from the three windows, at the centre of the wall behind Jesus head whose mannerism is calm and composed in spite of the upheaval around him on the table. Judas is shown as sitting in extreme left corner in the first triad, with Peter and John. The three windows provide more aesthetic value to the dramatic set up rather than symbolic in this case. References: Mansen Raven. Leonardo Da Vincis Notebook Project. 2007. Web. 25 September 2013 Renaissance Man. Museum of Science. Boston. Web. 25 September 2013. Waggoner Ben. Leonardo da Vinci (1452 1 519), Department of Biology, University of Central Arkansas. Arkansas. Web. 5 September 2013. Leonardo da Vinci (1452 1519). BBC History. London. Web. 5 September 2013. Duoma , Michael, curator. Leonardo Da Vincis Chiaroscuro. WebExhibits. Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancements, Washington DC. Web. 25 September 2013 University of Arts. Universal Leonardo. University of Arts. London. Web. 25 September 2013. The Mona Lisa. Global Studies, Art Historical Analysis. Web. 25 September 2013. Stockstad, M. , Cothren, M. W. , Art of High Renaissance Reformation, Art a Brief History, 5th Editio n, Pearson Education Inc. , Laurence King Publishing Limited, London. Retrieved on 25 September 2013.