Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian Renaissance architect, musician, anatomist, inventor, engineer, sculptor, geometer, and painter. He has been described as the archetype of the "Renaissance man" and as a universal genius. Leonardo is famous for his masterly paintings, such as The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. He is also known for designing many inventions that anticipated modern technology, although few of these designs were constructed in his lifetime. In addition, he helped advance the study of anatomy, astronomy, and civil engineering. Renaissance humanism saw no mutually exclusive polarities between sciences and arts.

Art

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Leonardo pioneered new painting techniques in many of his pieces. One of them, a colour shading technique called "Chiaroscuro", used a series of glazes custom-made by Leonardo. It is characterized by subtle transitions between colour areas, creating an atmospheric haze or smoky effect. Chiaroscuro is a technique of bold contrast between light and dark.

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Early works in Florence (1452-1482)

Leonardo was apprenticed to the artist Verrocchio in Florence when he was about 15. In 1476 Leonardo worked with Verrocchio to paint Baptism of Christ. He painted the angel at the front and the landscape, and the difference between the two artists' work can be seen, with Leonardo's finer blending and brushwork. A legend is that when Verrochio saw Leonardo's work he was so amazed that he resolved never to paint again.

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His first painting completed wholly by himself was the Madonna and Child painting completed in 1478, he also painted at the same time a picture of a little boy eating sherbert. In 1480-81 he created a small Annunciation painting which is now in the Louvre. In 1481 he painted an unfinished work of St. Jermoe. Between 1481 and 1482 he started a painting called The Adoration of the Kings (also known as The Adoration of the Magi). He made extensive, ambitious plans and many drawings for the painting, but it was not finished, as Leonardo's services had been accepted by the Duke of Milan, to which he travelled.

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Milan (1482-1499)

Leonardo spent 17 years in Milan under the services of Duke Ludovico (between 1482 and 1499). He did many paintings, sculptures, and drawings during this time. He also designed court festivals, and did many of his sketches related to engineering. He was given basically a free reign to work on any project he chose, though he left many projects unfinished, completing only about six paintings during this time. This included Last Supper (Ultima Cena or Cenacolo, in Milan) 1498 and Virgin of the Rocks. He worked on many of his notebooks between 1490 and 1495.

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He painted the Virgin of the rocks in 1494. In 1499 he paints Madonna and Child with St. Anne.

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He often planned grandiose paintings with many drawings and sketches, only to leave the projects unfinished. One of his projects involved making plans and models for a monumental seven metre (24 ft) high horse statue in bronze called "Gran Cavallo". Because of war with France, the project was never finished. (In 1999 a pair of full-scale statues based on his plans were cast, one erected in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the other in Milan http://www.leonardoshorse.org/.) The Hunt Museum in Limerick, Ireland has a small bronze horse, thought to be the work of an apprentice from Leonardo's original design.

Related Topics:
Grand Rapids, Michigan - Hunt Museum - Limerick, Ireland

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The French invaded Milan in 1499, and Ludovico Sforza lost control. Leonardo was forced to search for a new patron.

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Nomadic Period - Italy and France (1499-1519)

Between 1499 and 1516 Leonardo worked for a number of people, travelling around Italy doing several commissions, before moving to France in 1516. This has been described as a 'Nomadic Period'. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15440a.htm

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He stayed in:

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• Mantua (1500)
• Venice (1501)
• Florence (1501-06) known sometimes as his Second Florentine Period.
• Travelled between Florence and Milan staying in both places for short periods before settling in Milan.
• Milan (1506-13) (known sometimes as his Second Milanese Period, under the patronage of Charles d'Amboise until 1511)
• Rome (1514)
• Florence (1514)
• Pavia, Bologna, Milan (1515)
• France (1516-19) (patronage of King Francis I)

In 1500 he went to Mantua where he sketched a portrait of the Marchesa Isabella d'Este. He left for Venice in 1501, and soon after returned to Florence.

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After returning to Florence, he was commissioned for a large public mural, The Battle of Anghiari; his rival Michelangelo was to paint the opposite wall. After producing a fantastic variety of studies in preparation for the work, he left the city, with the mural unfinished due to technical difficulties. The painting was destroyed in a war in the middle of the sixteenth century.

Related Topics:
The Battle of Anghiari - Michelangelo

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He began work on the Mona Lisa in 1503. He most likely kept it with him at all times, and did not travel without it. Thousands of people see it each year in the Louvre, perhaps drawing their own interpretation on what is known as the Mona Lisa's most infamous and enigmatic feature - her smile. It is well known that Leonardo made extensive use of many tricks in this painting, including the so-called Golden Ratio. The name Mona Lisa is not the one given to the piece of art at the time, nor was it known by this title until much later. There is some debate whether Leonardo himself painted the Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda, now at the Louvre in Paris), 1503-1506., or whether it was the work of his students. It is however known that it was probably his favourite piece.

Related Topics:
Golden Ratio - Mona Lisa - Louvre

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He painted St Anne in 1509. Between 1506 and 1512, he lived in Milan and under the patronage of the French Governor Charles d'Amboise, he painted several other paintings. These included The Leda and the Swan, known now only through copies as the original work did not survive. He painted a second version of The Virgin of the Rocks (1506-1508). While under the patronage of Pope Leo X, he painted St John the Baptist (1513-1516).

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During his time in France, Leonardo made studies of the Virgin Mary from The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, and many drawings and other studies.

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List of artworks

• Annunciation (1475-1480) ? Uffizi, Florence, Italy
• Ginevra de' Benci (c. 1475) ? National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., United States
• The Benois Madonna (1478-1480) ? Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
• The Virgin with Flowers (1478-1481) ? Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany
• Adoration of the Magi (1481) ? Uffizi, Florence, Italy
• The Madonna of the Rocks (1483-86) ? Louvre, Paris, France
• Lady with an Ermine (1488-90) ? Czartoryski Museum, Krakow, Poland
• Portrait of a Musician (c. 1490) ? Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy
• Madonna Litta (1490-91) ? Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
• La belle Ferronière (1495-1498) ? Louvre, Paris, France
• Last Supper (1498) ? Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy
• The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist (c. 1499-1500) ? National Gallery, London, UK
• Madonna of the Yarnwinder 1501 (original now lost)
• Mona Lisa or La Gioconda (1503-1505/1506) ? Louvre, Paris, France
• The Madonna of the Rocks or The Virgin of the Rocks (1508) ? National Gallery, London, UK
• Leda and the Swan (1508) - (Only copies survive ? best-known example in Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy)
• The Virgin and Child with St. Anne (c. 1510) ? Louvre, Paris, France
• St. John the Baptist (c. 1514) ? Louvre, Paris, France
• Bacchus (or St. John in the Wilderness) (1515) ? Louvre, Paris, France