Meet the Masters Art Appreciation 2016 - 2017 Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci Born in 1452 in small village in Italy Little is known about early childhood, but showed remarkable artistic & mathematical abilities as a young boy Best known as an artist, but was also a scientist and inventor Worked mostly in Italy (Florence & Milan) but traveled widely Died in 1519 at age 67 Self Portrait, 1512

Early Training The Baptism of Christ – Verrocchio - c1475 At 15 Leonardo was sent as apprentice to famous artist Verrocchio Met many well-known painters & learned a variety of painting techniques Helped Verrocchio with many paintings (including this one) as part of his training Left Verrocchio’s workshop in 1472 at age 20 When he left Leonardo’s skills were considered far better than his mater’s Some claim Leonardo’s young angel holding Jesus’ robe (on the far left) was painted with such skill that Verrocchio (his teacher) put down his brush and never painted again.

The Last Supper One of Leonardo’s most famous paintings done on wall of a monastery (15’ x 29’) Noted for emotion captured on each face at a single moment in time Impressive use of one point perspective (everything in the painting leads the eye to the focal point in the middle) Wanted to paint slowly (unlike fresco mural painting common at the time), so Leonardo invented a new type of plaster on which to paint Leonardo’s plaster invention achieved his goal of allowing him to paint slowly. But within 20 years the paint began to flake off. Several controversial renovations have been done, the latest of which took 20 years and cost millions.

The Mona Lisa Most recognized part of the picture is the woman’s partial smile, masterfully accomplished through technique called “sfumato” (or “smoke”) Sfumato - fine shading meant to produce a soft transition between colors and tones, in order to achieve a more believable image Painted mostly between 1503- 1506 Who is pictured in the Mona Lisa? This question has been asked for centuries, but it is now widely believed that it is Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy merchant, who commissioned Leonardo to paint it.

Notebooks Leonardo also studied science, nature and technology Kept detailed notes about everything he learned (approx. 13,000 pages) Wrote backwards (from right to left) with his left hand; he could also write with his right hand (ambidextrous) Accurately predicted the world as it would exist long after his death Leonardo is often called a Renaissance Man, which is a term used for a very intelligent person who is good at many different things. The idea comes from Leonardo’s time in history, called the Renaissance, which lasted from about 1400 to 1600.

Inventions Leonardo created workable designs for many machines (bicycle, helicopter, submarine, military tank, etc.) Most not built until centuries after his death (due to lack of funds, tools and/or knowledge – Leonardo’s notebooks were initially not considered valuable or shared) Many consider Leonardo the greatest inventor of all time Sketch from Leonardo’s notebook – c1500 Sebastien Lenormand is credited with inventing the parachute in 1783. But Leonardo actually had a similar idea a few hundred years earlier. Leonardo’s wasn’t built until 2000, but it worked as planned. The tester claimed it gave a smoother ride than the modern parachute. Photo from test of Leonardo’s parachute design - 2000