Leonardo Da Vinci, Research Paper Example

Shrouded by mystery and conjecture very little is known about the early years of Leonardo da Vinci’s life. What researchers have discovered is; Leonardo da Vinci was born April 15, 1452 in a little farmhouse in the Tuscan hills, about two miles from Vinci, Tuscany. He was the ilegitimate son of Messer Piero Fruosino di Antono da Vinci, a wealthy legal notary from Florence and a peasant girl from the hamlet of Anchio named Caterina, , who may have been a slave from the Middle East. Leonardo had no sir name, however having the title “ser” inserted in his name (Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ) indicated that his father was a gentleman and da Vinci reflected he was from Vinci.(Museum of Science)

For the first five years of his life, Leonardo lived with his mother Caterina in Anchio. In 1457 he went to live in Vinci with his father, his stepmother Albiera, his grandfather and his uncle. Albiera married Leonardo’s father when she was 16 years old, and is reported to have loved Leonardo very much, but tragically died very young. His father remarried when Leonardo was sixteen. Both first and second marriages produced no legitimate heirs.

Growing up in his father’s house allowed Leonardo access to an informal education in Latin, geometry, and math. In 1466. barely fourteen years old, Leonardo’s father apprenticed him to the well known artist of that time, Andrea di Cione, known as Verrocchio. This was the same year Verricchio’s master Donatello died. During the apprenticeship with Verrocchio, Leonardo was exposed to theoretical training as well as technical skills training, He was taught by Verrocchio, Pollaiulol Mino da Fiesole. His studies included drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics and carpentry as well as the artistic skills of drawing, painting, sculpting and modeling, Leonardo remained with Verrocchio from 1466-1476, during which time he collaborated with Verrocchio on many works.(The Complete Works) It is reported by Vasari that when Leonardo collaborated with Verrocchio on the painting The Baptism of Christ, Leonardo’s work was so superior to Verrocchio’s work, that Verrocchio never painted again. When Leonardo’s apprentice with Verrocchio ended, Leonardo was considered a master artist.

After leaving his apprenticeship with Verrocchio, Leonardo’s father set up a studio for him to continue his work. It is reported that he continued to collaborate with Verrocchio on projects while working in his own studio until 1482. According to Varisi, Leonardo had created a silver lyre in the shape of a horse’s head, Lorenzo de’ Medici requested this lyre be presented to Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan hoping the gift would secure peace with the Duke Seeking fortune, and challanges Leonardo traveled to Milan. There he presented the silver lyre to the Duke also informed the Duke of his painting abilities. He remained in the Duke’s service for the next 17 years. During which time Leonardo stayed busy painting, sculpting, and designing buildings, floats, pageants, and court festivals for the Duke. . During the 17 years he was in service to the Duke, Leonardo completed only about six paintings which included one of his best known paintings “The Last Supper” and ‘Virgin at the Rocks” It is stated that during this time he would often lock himself away studying science or out in the wild observing nature, or dissecting the human cadavers leaving countless paintings and projects unfinished. Designing a dome for the Milan Cathedral and a large equestrian monument were two of the projects commissioned to Leonardo. It took several years for him to complete either project, reportedly this was not unusual and stemmed from the fact he had such broad interests and found it hard to stay on task and remain focused on one thing for any length of time. Although when the clay sculpture of the horse was completed in 1492 it was larger than Donatello’s statue of Gattemelata in Padua and Verrocchio’s Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice..

Ludovico is reported to have also had Leonardo work on designing weapons, buildings, and machinery. Many of the designs he came up with were far advanced for that time. Some of these designs included the tank, flying machines and the submarine,. Leonardo started keeping detailed notebooks of all his designs and drawings. His first anatomical study was produced during this time also. Today these notebooks are valued in the millions.

In 1499, no longer in the Duke’s service due to the fall of the Duke’s power and the French invasion, Leonardo accompanied with his assistant Safii and friend Luca Pacioli, fled Milan and went to Venice. Once in Venice Leonardo obtained work as a military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from naval attack.For the next 17 years Leonardo traveled throughout Italy obtaining work from various patrons. In 1502 after seeing the map of Borgia’s stronghold that Leonardo created., Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, hired Leonardo to travel throughout Italy with him acting as military engineer and architect, , later the same year Leonardo created another map for Borgia of the Chiana Valley, Tuscany This map gave Borgia an overlay of the land creating a greater strategic advantage. Maps were very rare at this time In conjunction with this second map he created the plans for building a dam from the sea of Florence that enabled the canal to have water year round. He began work on what is perhaps his most notorious painting The Mona Lisa, somewhere around 1503. October, 1503 Leonardo returned to Florence where the next two years was spent working with Michelangelo designing the infamous mural The Battle of Anghiari and The Battle of Cascina. Leonardo returned to Milan in 1507.

Leonardo spent 1513-1516 living in the Belvedere in the Vatican in Rome. During these years he did many projects for the Pope and continued his studies into the human anatomy and physiology. Much to his dismay the Pope forbad him to experiment with human cadavers. After the death of Giuliano de Medici in 1516, the King of France, François I offered Leonardo a position as The Kings Architect. Leonardo continued to work in this position until his death on May 2, 1519. Some twenty years after Leonardo’s death, François was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor Benevenuto Cellini as saying: “There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculptures and architecture, as that he was a very great philosopher.” (From wikipedia)

Leonardo da Vinci is the best known artist the Renaissance Period. In addition to being a gifted painter he was also a sculptors, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. According to art historian Helen Gardner, the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent and “his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious and remote.(Gardner)

Volumes have been written about the genius of his works, the unparallel talents he possessed however very few facts are known about his personal life. Leonardo was reported to be a very private man. In an era where left handed people were often forced to use their right hand, Leonardo stood his ground and refused. Many believed being left handed added an element to his genius allowing him to see beyond the ordinary. It is noted that he sometimes went as far as to write completely backwards. In such cases a mirror would be used to decipher his writings. Speculation surrounded him throughout his life and continues to this day about his sexual orientation.. In 1476 Leonardo and 3 other males were charges with sodomy of a male prostitute. Due to lack of evidence these charges were dropped however there was speculation that the charges were dropped not due to lack of evidence but dropped because one of the accused, Lionardo de Tornabuoni was closely related to Lorenzo de’ Medici, The family wanting to avoid a scandal exerted pressure to have the charges dismissed. .” (From wikipedia)

There has been much written about the question of his homosexuality and how it affected his art. Despite what speculations one may have about Leonardo da Vinci’s sexual orientation and his private life there are no questions or doubts that this was quite possibly the most talented man to ever live. His genius and talent went far beyond the time period in which he lived.

Works Cited

Gardner, Helen (1970). Art through the Ages. pp. 450–456.

Leonardo da Vinci The complete Work (2012) http://www.leonardoda-vinci.org/biography.htm Retrieved 08 April 2012

Museum of Science. Renaissance Man (2012) http://www.mos.org/leonardo/bio.html Retrieved 08 April 2012

Wikipedia.WEB.(2012) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_vinci#cite_note-Chiesa83-14 Retrieved 08 April 2012

Vasari, Giorgio (1568). Lives of the Artists. Penguin Classics. pp. 258–9.