Leonardo Da Vinci
From 1469, my father and I moved to Florence, where I became an apprentice of Verrocchio, the Duke of Milan. His skilled and fantastic works of art has inspired me to be an artist later on. My paintings have mostly a nature kind of background, and they are remarkable paintings since they have strong expressions, and they teach about life too. Some accomplishments in my paintings is the Mona Lisa, a portrait of a merchant・s wife with a mysterious smile and a beautiful landscape background. I also painted The Last Supper in 1495, a big feast portrait in the church of Santa Maria. Another famous work of mine is The Adoration of Magi. I started it in 1481, but left it unfinished and I went back to Milan. I wasn・t just an artist though, for I was a craftsman too. During somewhere between 1516 to 1519, I built many horse models for King Francis I, and the miniature bronze of a Horse and Rider is one of them. My talents were very skilled in art and craft, but I was also strong in science plus engineering.
I was mostly famous as an artist and craftsman, but I・m also a scientist and inventor too. I sketched loads of inventions, though not all of them are made or finished when I start it. My notebooks gives full explanations of how my inventions were created, so I・ll be telling you. As a scientist, I concentrate on nature. Since I lived near the forest when I was young, I was free to explore the woods and streams. This gave me the opportunity to study the insects, animals, and birds that I sketched in great detail in my notebook. I didn・t just focus on that topic though, for I was also into human anatomy. One of my sketches that was base on this was the Cannon of Proportions, called the Vitruvian Man. This shows the proportions of the male body as described by Virtuvius, a Roman writer, architect, and engineer. I recreate the effects I saw in nature also, and added liveliness to my portraits. I try to explain what I saw by using lots of experiments to test my ideas and most of them worked.
I was sure a great artist and scientist, but I was also good at engineering. I・ve made tons of sketches on inventions and create them too. But like in science, not all of my inventions were finished or made. From war machines, to flying machines, to work machines, to land machines, and water machines, I・ve created many things. Most likely the inventions you see today might have started from me. My accomplishments in inventions are a whole lot, but some famous ones would be the parachute, the Armored Car, and the 33-barrelled organ. Gears are mostly in the middle of most of my inventions, like the modern helicopter and the automatic turnspit. Some inventions today could possibly started off from me, like the parachute. I・ve always made sketches before I start making the inventions. The parachute supports my idea that humans could fly. The Armored Car is a turquoise shape car that was created to bring destruction among the enemy troops. The 33-barrelled Organ is a model of a machine gun with 33 small guns, used in the military.
Until on May 2, 1519, I was dead and was buried in the church of St Florentine. But, I believe that my accomplishments through painting and engineering should influence people a lot today. For example, today you could see many different kinds of parachutes floating everywhere, and if it wasn・t for me that started the idea, the parachutes would have never been created and developed. Besides, the many different kinds of helicopters today wouldn・t even exist without me inventing it. Also, artists today would have never make their paintings more peaceful and making the backgrounds more flamboyant if I didn・t start on that idea on my paintings at first. Not just that, but I think that I influenced the artists today from my skill in making the paintings very emotional. Why, if I didn・t start that idea, many paintings today would be dull and not as satisfying! Besides my accomplishments in painting and engineering, there are also some accomplishments in science too. Like how I made theories on mostly human anatomy, optics (which is studying about eyesight) and fluids of both animals and humans. My theories carried on, I supposed, since scientists try to prove me wrong or right, and communicate their results to others. So my accomplishments not just influenced artists and engineers, but scientists as well! That・s why you heard people calling me the ：Universal Man； or Renaissance Genius.
In conclusions, I, Leonardo da Vinci, turned out to be a Renaissance・s Genius from my talents through art to science. I was well known from my paintings, like the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. I・ve also accomplished making many kinds of machines in engineering, like the parachute and the Armored Car built for the military. Not just a great artist and engineer, but I・m also a great scientist. I theorized many subjects, but mostly on human anatomy. My accomplishments influence people today, like how artists make their paintings more realistic and how people developed the parachute and helicopter that was started off from me. In science, my theories are passed on to be proven right or wrong. I died on May 2, 1519 and was buried in a church called the Church of St Florentine.
Article by Gabriel, Shirley and Wendy
