Leonardo Da Vinci True Renaissance Man: Painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, writer, inventor, mathematician, engineer. Leonardo Da Vinci

Da Vinci (of / From Vinci) Born April 15, 1452 in Vinci, a small town outside of the city state of Florence (Firenze). Birth Name – Leonardo di Ser Piero - Illigitimate. Born out of wedlock, his Father, Piero, was a notary and Mother, Caterina, was a peasant. Became “da Vinci”

DA Vinci & Verrocchio Da Vinci’s father used his position to get young Leonardo in Andrea del Verrocchio’s studio as an artist’s apprentice. Verrocchio taught Da Vinci and they painted together. The Baptism of Christ is said to be the last painting Verrocchio did because after seeing Da Vinci’s angel in the painting, Verrocchio believed the apprentice had now become the master, and vowed never to paint again.

DA Vinci & Verrocchio Leonardo’s angel has softer hair and and shows more attention to detail than the other figures in the work.

The Medici – Florence’s Banking and Ruling Family Left - Ponte Vecchio . Above -Medici Corridor or walkway. The Medici Family was also a patron to the arts. Da Vinci worked for the Medici as an artist, but soon became tired of Florence and its politics. He was Also growing angry that a new artist was emerging in Florence (Michelangelo).

Da Vinci Leaves Florence Fed up with, his rival and seeking new possibilities, Leonardo left Florence in the middle of an alter painting, Adoration of the Magi in 1481. This was one of his first commissions. Leonardo once said “Art is never finished, only abandoned.”

Adoration of the Magi The passion found in the on-lookers faces in the painting and the action represented by their body language was a direct influence of Donatello on Leonardo. Left Image - Detail From Adoration of the Magi Right Image – Donatello’s David

Addoration of the Magi (Study)

Da vinci relocates north to Milan

Da Vinci in Milan Italy was not a unified country but separate provinces or City-States.

Da Vinci in Milan Leonardo moved in 1483 north to the city-state of Milan, to work for the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. The Duke of Milan was military minded. Milan was a warring city-state. Leonardo loved to design possible weapons for war. He approached the Duke with his designs. Many of his engineering ideas were colossal in size and ahead of his time.

War Machine Engineer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgaRpfRvgTA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCwCnsfVmYc

War Machine Engineer Doing Da Vinci is a television show on Discovery Networks that attempt to create working versions of his mechanical inventions.

Obsessed with flight “For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.” – Leonardo Da Vinci

Studied the human anatomy Leonardo would preform autopsies and create detailed sketches of the human body.

Studied the human anatomy Vitruvian Man

Horses and Da Vinci’s Lost PAinting Da Vinci was enamored with the anatomy and musculature of Horses, often sketching them in his notebooks.

Horses and Da Vinci’s Lost PAinting Da Vinci’s “lost” fresco The Battle of Anghiari is believed by some to be still intact in a hidden in a trapped compartment behind another painting in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

Horses and Da Vinci’s Lost PAinting

The Sforza Equestrian Monument The Duke of Milan commissioned Leonardo to create a cast bronze sculpture immortalizing his war horse. The Sforza Equestrian Monument was abandoned shortly after the full size clay model was revealed to the Duke. The bronze was used to make cannon balls, and invading French soon destroyed the clay sculpture. This Replica stands 24 feet tall in Milan The Sforza Equestrian Monument

The Sforza Horse

Two Paintings / Same Subject Virgin on the Rocks 1486-1490 1506-1508 National Gallery, London Madonna on the Rocks 1483-1485 The Louvre, Paris Confraternity on Immaculate Conception commissioned Leonardo and brothers Ambrogio and Evangelista de' Predis to create altarpiece. CIC refused to pay and Duke of Milan bought original. Thought to have been stolen by Louis XII in 1499.

Madonna on the rocks Displays atmospheric perspective Air particles obscure (make less clear) objects in the background, and make the background look blue and hazy Da Vinci discovered this natural occurrence and used it to show depth in his paintings

The Last Supper - Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper 1495-1497, S. Maria delle Grazie, Milan Unique Groupings, expressions, and in 1-point perspective

From 1978 to 1999, Pinin Brambilla Barcilon guided a major restoration project to reverse the damage caused by dirt, pollution, and the misguided 18th and 19th century restoration attempts Chapel was bombed during WWII.

The Mona Lisa Started in 1503 and considered never finished and was in his possession when he died in France in 1517. Thought to be a portrait of Francesco del Giocondo, Lisa Del Giocondo. “Ma Donna Lisa” – Madam Lisa  in 1911 Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia . He gave the painting to the Uffizi Galleries (National Galleries of Italy). The Uffizi returned the painting to the Louvre in Paris in 1913. Sfumato – Smoky blending of values and color. Prominent painting technique during the Renaissance.