Leonardo da Vinci was born in Anchiano, Italy on April 15, 1452. He was son to a poorly woman named and a wealthy man Ser Piero, da Vinci was raised by his father and his stepmother. Around age five, he moved with nearby Anchiano where he lived with his uncle and grandparents. Da Vinci received little education beyond basic reading, writing, science, and mathematics, but his artistic talents were shining from an early age. At the age of 14, “Leonardo began an apprenticeship and learned a variety of technical skills including metalworking, leather arts, carpentry, drawing, painting and sculpting with the noted artist Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence”(Web). This helped in the future with Da Vinci’s interest in inventions. At the age of 20, da Vinci qualified for membership as an artist in Florence’s Guild of Saint Luke and established his own workshop. In 1478, da Vinci received his first commission by himself inside Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio.
Although da Vinci is known for his artistic abilities, less than two dozen paintings of his exist. One reason is that his interests varied so much that he wasn’t just a painter. Da Vinci’s most famous works include the Vitruvian Man, The Last Supper, and the Mona Lisa.
The Vitruvian Man portrays a man in two positions. In one position, the man’s legs are together with arms outstretched to demonstrate the volume of a circle. In the second position, the man’s legs stand apart and his arms extend to demonstrate the circumference of a circle. The shading of the hair gives the drawing a three-dimensional graphic feel. The Vitruvian Man is a painting of the human body highlighting the nature of balance in which proportion and symmetry lend us. Vitruvian Man gave us an idea of Humanism too, a relation between man and nature, as a link between a circle and square in the portrait.
Leonardo’s painting, the Last Supper is Christ’s final meal with his apostles before Judas identifies Christ to the authorities who arrest him. Christ sits below an arching pediment. Leonardo surrounded a landscape beyond the windows. Religious people say that this heavenly sanctuary can only be reached through Christ. The twelve apostles were arranged as four groups of three and there are also three windows. “The number three is often a reference to the Holy Trinity in Catholic art,”(Web). In contrast, the number four is important in the classical tradition.
Mona Lisa, is the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. The famous portrait is on oil wood and it is most famous for its mystery. It is located today in Paris, France. “The painting, a sort of creation of nature, represents at the same time the species: the portrait goes beyond its social limitations and acquires a universal meaning. Although Leonardo worked on this portrait as a scholar and thinker, not only as a painter and poet, the scientific and philosophical aspects of his research inspired at the same time a more monumental and more lively, of his other paintings,”(Web). Mona Lisa’s soul is in the smile of the portrait. Mona Lisa is one of the most famous paintings today. The Mona Lisa alone is living: the soul is there, but inaccessible. That’s what makes it so mysterious.
Though Leonardo da Vinci may be most famous for his works as an artist, he actually spent a bit more time working on his ideas in science and technology. Leonardo developed unique new ideas about machines. “He reasoned that by understanding how each separate machine part worked, he could modify them and combine them in different ways to improve existing machines or create inventions no one had ever seen before,” (Web). Of course, his sketches played a large role in his inventions and provided evidence that da Vinci had envisioned many ideas long before the technology to build them actually existed. One of the most inventive inventors in history, Leonardo da Vinci dreamed up inventions and innovations across a variety of fields. Whether it was designing weapons of war, flying machines, water systems or work tools, da Vinci the inventor was never afraid to look beyond traditional thinking.
Leonardo da Vinci was a man was many things. He did not have the education he would have gotten today. With that being said, you can do anything you can put your mind to. If you like it, you don’t have to have an education in it. Sometimes someone who doesn’t go to school for a career like Leonardo can turn to be better than someone who went to school and had a formal education.
