Essay on Magnificent Minds of the Renaissance

Leonardo da Vinci was a man of many talents, History.com says, “[Leonardo] studied nature, mechanics, anatomy, physics, architecture, weaponry and more, often creating accurate, workable designs for machines...” (Leonardo). Leonardo loved to design and innovate. On their website, The Museum of Science and Industry states, “[Da Vinci] left behind thousands of pages of notes filled with designs, ideas and discoveries” (Leonardo Bio). Furthermore, The contents of these notes had the potential to revolutionize the

Born Vinci, Italy in the year of 1452, Da Vinci was born into a respected family of the community. Early on in his life, his artistic talents were evident and he was sent to Florence to be an apprentice to the respected artist Andrea del Verrocchio. Under the guidance of Verrocchio, Da Vinci acquired a variety of skills which he would later master. Da Vinci learned skills such as metalworking, sculpting and carpentry. Equipped with a wide

Leonardo’s first science related drawings were geared more towards research in the study of humans and other living animals. He focused on the main function and anatomy of numerous living creatures, thus creating his over 4,000 page manuscripts including all of his research (Waggoner). After a while, Leonardo moved onto his experimental inventions idea. It first started out as a task from a Duke in Milan. He was first a military engineer creating inventions such as his armoured car, 33-barreled organ, and a giant crossbow. Later Leonardo Da Vinci started to work on his own personal works like a flying machine. His fascination with birds drove him to try to build a machine that would enable humans to fly. Leonardo himself says it was a dangerous idea and should be tested over a lake or some safe landing area (Wallace). These inventions that Leonardo had created lasted centuries and still had an impact to this very

Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” was painted during his time in Milan, which was from about 1495 to 1498. “The Last Supper” is a tempera and oil mural on plaster. He created this painting for the refectory of the city’s Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Also known as “The Cenacle,” this painting is about fifteen by twenty nine feet and is the artist’s only surviving fresco. The painting depicts the Passover dinner, in which Jesus Christ addresses the Apostles and says, “One of you shall betray me.” One of the painting’s most vivid features in the painting is each Apostle’s distinct emotive expression and body language. When the French in 1499 (invaded Milan) and the Sforza family fled, da Vinci also escaped. He was possibly the first to Venice and then to Florence.

Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452, near the village of Vinci about 25 miles west of Florence. He was the illegitimate son of Ser Piero da Vinci, a prominent notary of Florence, and a local woman, Caterina. Leonardo's childhood is unknown except that when he was fifteen, his father apprenticed him and became a student of Andrea del Verrocchio, the leading artist of

Leonardo didn’t have the little perfect childhood. Growing up somewhere near Anchiano, near Vinci, the republic of Florence. His father was a Notary, which is basically a really important person to the country of Italy, and his mom, which was a servant. He was the only child between those two, so he didn’t quit receive the attention a child should receive. because of this, he only received a basic education of Reading, Writing and

(Hutchinson) In 1502, he joined the military of Cesare Borgia as a senior military engineer. Borgia was at the height of his power and was said to be one of the most compelling feared men of his time. da Vinci and Borgia became infatuated with one another and their accomplishments. In Borgia’s court Leonardo met Nicolo Machiavelli. In da Vinci, Machiavelli sparked a curiosity for politics. In 1503, they left Borgia and began planning together a system of canals. It was here while planning the route for the canal that he fell in love with the beauty of the land for his work the Mona Lisa. The project for the canals failed shortly after. In 1506, Leonardo was summoned back to Milan by the French governor. Here he became a painter and engineer to King Louis XII of France. Between 1506 and 1510, he wrote one of his most inclusive notebooks called Codex Leicester. The 72 pages contain da Vinci’s thoughts on astronomy, hydrodynamics, riverbank erosion, and properties of water. The book was bought for 30.8 million dollars in 1994 by Bill Gates. It is the only privately owned manuscripts on da Vinci’s and the only one in the US. In 1513, he relocated to Rome where we worked under the patronage of Guiliano de Medici. Here he also spent much of his time on writing, science, and engineering. Three years later after Giuliano de Medici died he moved to France where King Francis I had extended an invitation to him. He

Leonardo's paintings 'The Vitruvian Man', 'Mona Lisa' and 'The Last Supper' have inspired other artists today by his various techniques. We already know by Leonardo da Vinci's 'Last Supper' that his oil paints didn't last for long and have deteriorated,through the years paints are now made durable.

Leonardo was the son of a Florentine and a peasant mother. The works he was involved in was art, painting, architecture, science, math, engineering, anatomy, history, geology, writing, plants, animals, people, and a few more he was interested. Leonardo was known for being a Renaissance genius. Some of Leonardo’s works were only known by the drawings before he made it related to the project he would be working on. Leonardo did his studying in Santa Maria Nuova hospital for his knowledge on anatomy. The years from 1510 to 1511 were his most active years for him not just in anatomy also in painting and sculpturing. Most of Leonardo’s talents and skills developed at a very early point in his life, he in deed take to his advantage. His originality was the greatest of minds that had ever lived in

Hardworking and curious from the beginning, Leonardo dove into any information he could get his hands on in order to fulfill his natural talents of creation. Just at the age of 15 he began to work with his father at the Verrochio work shop where he took the biggest step in his artwork. He grew up around great artists, Verrochio himself, and mastered all the challenges art had too offer. He became so good that around the age of 20 he made Verrochio retire in art, as well as become one of the most famous painters known in Italy. Shortly after he began to work for a Duke, which is where he began to branch into sculpting, designing buildings as well as weapons and machinery. Leonardo was never a man of war because he hated the idea of people dying, but he had to pay his bills some how and that’s the

In Leonardo’s early life with his father Ser Perico, who was a notary, a person who wrote wills,

Leonardo da Vinci escaped Milan when it was invaded by the French in 1499 and didn’t return to Milan until 1506. He left Italy for good in 1516 when he was offered him the title of Premier Painter, engineer, and architect. He worked for Sforza Clan as an engineer, painter, architect, designer of court festivals, and a sculptor. Leonardo died May 2, 1519 in Amboise, France. It’s been said that during his last years Francis had become one of his closest friend. He didn’t work with a lot of people. He worked alone and was always alone so I don’t think he had very many friends. He never really left his work. He did sometimes but he never left it for a long time. I guess it’s because his work was really valuable. His work is hanging in museums somewhere. His best work is The Mona Lisa and The last Supper. At least those are the main two that a lot of people talk

The year that he moved to Milan was so he could work there (to do the service of the city’s duke, Ludovico Sforza) was in 1482. Leonardo worked as a senior military architect in 1502. 1503, He had to paint a mural for Florence’s council hall, and in 1516 Leonardo is invited to go work with The King of France. The tragic day came along on May 2nd, 1519 … Da Vinci died in France.

Starting with the renaissance, a growing cultural secularism brought upon a renewed interest in both the arts and sciences. Specifically, scientific knowledge exploded during this period thanks to advancements like the scientific method. This knowledge was then reapplied to the arts in paintings both using and depicting the new, modern sciences. One of the clearest examples of the proverbial “renaissance man” was Leonardo Da Vinci. Besides being a painter, Leonardo was a writer, sculptor, engineer, scientist and inventor.

During the shift from the middle ages into the Renaissance period new conceptions of the individual and the human mind quickly came to light. Although art in the Middle Ages was centered predominantly on religion and faith, the incoming art of the Renaissance underwent a drastic change. A vast amount of these changes mainly focused on individualism, secularism, and humanism. Following the collapse of the feudal system, thoughts of individualism quickly rose when people realized that they didn’t have to adhere to a specific group.Throughout the beginning of the Renaissance, religious figures and the Catholic Church began to lose authority which conducted in new ideas of secularism. Comparably, humanistic art and notions became preeminent when individuals focused on glorifying the human body, learning more about it and inclined more towards realistic art.