Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo was born illegitimately on April 15, 1452 to a peasant woman named Caterina, and Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a notary. Technically, Leonardo did not have a surname because ‘da Vinci’ simply means ‘of Vinci’, where Vinci is the name of the town where he was born.
Leonardo spent his first 5 years with his mother, after which he was raised by his father’s family. Although he was taught Latin and mathematics, he did not appear to have excelled in school. Rather than pressuring him to study, Leonardo’s family sent him to apprentice with an artist named Andrea di Cione in 1466. Leonardo was trained in a range of skills that included painting, sculpting, drawing, metal working and carpentry. His hard work and development of his natural abilities paid off by 1472, at age 20 when he became a master of the Guild of St Luke - a painters’ guild in Florence.
The Mona Lisa used a revolutionary technique called “sfumato” also known as “Leonardo’s smoke”, which made the portrait appear smoky, adding to its sense of mystery. Indeed, the Mona Lisa has captured the imaginations, hearts and minds of those who have seen it. Leonardo is said to have begun work on the painting in 1503. He loved the painting so much that he took it with him whenever he travelled and refused to sell it to anyone. Some art historians claim he continued to work on the painting until 1516.
Another famous work, The Last Supper, is a mural that Leonardo was commissioned to paint on a wall of the dining hall of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy; he worked on it from 1495 to 1498. In this painting, Leonardo depicts Jesus sharing his final meal with his 12 disciples, including Judas, who would soon betray him. Today, this mural has been carefully restored and draws many visitors.
Leonardo’s paintings are superior because he applied paint in layers, giving his work a three-dimensional effect where lighter colors seem to float above a darker base coat. Leonardo was said to be intrigued by the contrast of light and shadow. As he once explained, “A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black because all things in nature are dark except where exposed to the light.”
While Leonardo did not paint many paintings, he did make numerous sketches, drawings, and notes in his journals. One of his most famous drawings is the Vitruvian Man, which is a sketch of a perfectly portioned human male body. It is said that this sketch shows Leonardo’s keen interest in the concept of proportion and represents his effort to make connections between man and nature.
As a result of his curiosity and thirst for knowledge, Leonardo made many fascinating discoveries about the world around him and these discoveries continue to inspire scientists today. For instance, he realised that fossils and layers of rock were deposited naturally through geological processes and not because of Biblical events as was commonly believed at the time. His discovery and explanations allowed scientists since then to determine how old the earth is, and to categorise the different periods of natural history such as the Jurassic Period and the Ice Age.
Leonardo also studied the human body with great interest, making detailed drawings from dead bodies that were cut up. He provided clear descriptions of the human spine, for instance, and was the first person to state that the human heart has 4 chambers instead of 2, as was believed at the time. Medical students today still refer to Leonardo’s drawings of the human body to study anatomy.
Leonardo’s enthusiasm for nature and life was substantial. He wanted to learn about everything he could so that he could apply his knowledge to solve problems in society. He designed plans for many inventions such as the inflatable tube for floating on water, armoured car, machine gun, hang glider, parachute, bicycle, scissors, as well as hydraulic pumps and steam cannons. Modern scientists and engineers have attempted to recreate some of his inventions and discovered that many could still successfully function, a remarkable achievement for a man whose thinking was clearly way before his time.
On 2 May 1519, Leonardo died in Château du Clos Lucé in France; he was 67 years old. Today, the Chateau is a museum where replicas of many of Leonardo’s inventions can be seen. There is also a copy of the Mona Lisa.
In his lifetime, Leonardo studied many subjects that encompassed both the arts and the sciences. He was truly a revolutionary thinker and genius who learned in order to be able to apply his knowledge rather than learning for learning’s sake.