Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci, more than any other man, defined Renaissance ideals. He was born on April 15, 1452 in Anchiano, Italy, in a farmhouse. He was the illegitimate son of Ser Piero, a public notary, and Catarina, a peasant woman whom little is known about. He was raised by his father and his mother in law in Vinci, a small town located at the foot of Monte Albano in Tuscany. As a young child, he had access to books and literature through his family and their connections. He was also reported to have a keen interest in nature, an attribute that would lead to a fascination with anatomy and biology later in his life. He was instructed in writing, reading, arithmetic, geometry, and Latin. At the age of 15, his fathered arranged for him to be apprenticed to Andrea del Verrochio, the most famous and influential manifold artist in Florence. Verrochio was a sculptor, painter, goldsmith, and bronze caster, among others. This multi-faceted professionalism had a definite impact on Leonardo, as he later took on many professions himself. His first renowned painting was an angel he painted in Verrochio’s “Baptism of Christ.” Verrochio soon realized that his apprentice’s abilities reached beyond his own, and he is allegedly said to have proclaimed to never create another painting again after Leonardo’s apprenticeship. By 1472 he was registered in the painter’s guild and developed his skills with oil paint. Leonardo set up his own workshop in 1477 where he was commissioned by the monks of San Donato a Scopeto painted one of his most famous early unfinished paintings, “The Adoration of the Magi.” He left his acclaimed and popular studio for Milan, France in 1482 to study under the patronage of Ludovico Sforza.
It is estimated that Leonardo’s father had over 17 children illegitimately, although he was not raised with any of them. After leaving for his apprenticeship with Verrochio, he had little contact with his family. While he opened his own workshop in Florence, he was anonymously accused of having a homosexual affair with a model. The charges were later dropped, but rumors of his homosexuality followed him until his death. After being invited to the court of Ludovico Sforza, he was initiated into the social society of Milan. He experienced similar integrations through his several patrons. Throughout his encounters, he came across several other important figures of the day, such as Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, and Lorenzi di Credi, all famous artists during the Renaissance in Florence. He met another influential Renaissance figure during this time, Niccolo Machiavelli, the author of the controversial political handbook The Prince. He befriended Niccolo and he consulted Leonardo on some of his paintings. On July 9th, 1504, Leonardo received a notice that his father had died. His siblings had conspired against him to deprive him of all inheritance. He later received all the inheritance after his uncle died and was able to then sufficiently fund himself for the rest of his life.
Leonardo dabbled in so many of today’s defined professions that it is difficult to state all of his accomplishments in each field. Many of his accomplishments ranged in the fields of architecture, anatomy, botany, engineering, geology, hydraulics, mechanics, mathematics, philosophy, painting, and sculpture. Before being commissioned by Duke Sforza, he wrote a letter to him which stated that he could make bridges that were ‘indestructible by fire and battle’, and made ‘chariots, safe and unassailable’. He also mentioned in the letter that he was an architect, sculptor, and painter. The letter alone was enough to convince the Duke of his potential and he was hired soon later. He pioneered several extravagant engineering projects that many engineers of the day claimed were impossible to create, although modern engineers have declared them practical and sound. One of these, a bridge that was designed to span the entire “golden horn” in Constantinople and would have been the most magnificent structure of its time, but was scrapped because of lack of funding for the project. One of Leonardo’s employers was Cesare Borgia, a brutal and dastardly general who paid for Leonardo’s services as a military engineer and traveled with Borgia across all of Italy. His most famous works, however, were in the field of painting. His styles remain unmatched up unto today as the most revolutionary for their time. He mastered the art of perspective and used backgrounds as a dynamic and flowing entity. He made thousands of sketches in his notebooks, and still more hundreds of unfinished paintings. Leonardo had a tendency to not finish because his mind shifted from ideas quickly. His finished pieces are, however, regarded as masterpieces and rank today as some of the most recognizable paintings of all time, and his masterpiece, Mona Lisa, is arguably the most famous painting in history.
While in Milan, Leonardo created some of his best works. During this time he also came about the habit of writing down his thoughts and ideas into meticulously illustrated notebooks. Many of the writings in these notebooks were written backwards in order to prevent plagiarism, although they can be easily deciphered with a mirror. He also undertook one of his greatest projects during time, dubbed by historians as the “big horse.” It was thought to be a tribute to the Duke of Milan’s father, Francesco Sforza. The statue was to be twenty three feet high, made of bronze, and weigh nearly 80 tons. This project, like many others of the time by Leonardo, went unfinished due to the French invading and deposing the Duke. After the Duke was deposed in 1499, Leonardo sought new patrons around Italy for 16 years. In 1513 he worked in Rome out of his own workshop, and began to undertake projects for Pope Leo X. He undertook many architectural and engineering projects for the Pope and was commissioned to paint several paintings. By 1516, after the death of two of his most important patrons, Leonardo was invited by King Francis I of France to spend his remaining days in Amboise in the court of France at the castle Cloux. The King gave him free access to pursue whatever interests he wished. Leonardo painted little during this time, but rather he focused more on scientific studies, particularly in the fields of hydraulics and botany. He died on May 2, 1519, in the castle Cloux in France. Legend has it that upon hearing the news that Leonardo was dying, King Francis traveled to see Leonardo and cradled his head as he died. Today, Leonardo da Vinci is regarded as one of the most brilliant men in history, whose accomplishments were only limited to his mortality.
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