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Leonardo Da Vinci: Most Important Men Of The Italian Renaissance

Decent Essays

Leonardo Da Vinci
Ankit Badatala
12/5/16

Leonardo da Vinci was one of the most important men of the Italian Renaissance. He single handedly influenced art, vast fields of science and engineering of that time period. He was considered the epitome of a “Renaissance man.” He was born on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy and died on May 2, 1519 ("Leonardo da Vinci"). He always had a curious mind, keen intellect and a strong sense of curiosity even from a young age. Over Leonardo’s lifetime, he had over 15 different occupations however he was known prominently as a scientist, artist and an engineer (Heydenreich). Leonardo da Vinci's artwork, discoveries in science, inventions, and innovations greatly impacted Europe during the Renaissance …show more content…

The purpose of the dissections was to determine what the body as a whole looked like. Also, the findings were used to determine how muscles and bones worked. Leonardo’s notebooks showed his admiration for each part of the human body. Beside one of his drawings of a heart, he wrote, “Marvelous instrument invented by the Supreme Master” (Pacuraru). He used his knowledge and experience as a sculptor to help him by injecting the organs with wax to make plaster casts. Studying the arms and the legs also laid the roots for his discovery of the lever (Pacuraru). He dissected every muscle and observed how it worked. Leonardo's anatomical sketches have been studied and proven to be incredibly accurate for his time period. This just goes to show the large role Leonardo Da Vinci played in the scientific advance during the sixteenth century.
Leonardo Da Vinci was and still is known as one of the greatest and most influential artists to ever have lived. What made Da Vinci a great scientist is the same as what made him a phenomenal artist, his unrealistic ability to observe every minute detail. For each of his paintings and sculptures, he took detailed notes on his observations of different lighting, his surroundings such as animals, people, and landscapes, and how close or far away an object is ("The Artist"). This allowed him to add realism to his …show more content…

The Vitruvian Man was one of his works that showed just that. Leonardo's illustration of the theory of Vitruvius is a drawing of a male figure whose outstretched arms and legs touch the circumference of a circle and the edges of a square (Leonardo Da Vinci's). The man’s bellybutton is at the exact center of the circle. There is a change in perspective as the structure is static but at the same time dynamic as it represents a moving, living man. Around the man enclosed in the circle and square, Leonardo wrote about natures proportions of the human body (Leonardo Da Vinci's). Vitruvian Man is Leonardo da Vinci's illustration that brings together ideas about art, human anatomy, perspective and symmetry in one unique piece of art. By combing text and illustration, da Vinci evokes a meaning which could not be expressed through words or image alone. The Vitruvian Man is by far the best representation of the culmination of Da Vinci’s life

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