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Leonardo da Vinci
n the death of Leonardo da Vinci, a former student of Leonardos, said: The loss of such a man is mourned by all, for it is not in the power of Nature to create another. If you had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with the smartest, most creative person to ever walk the Earth, what would you want to know about? Would you want to know about his accomplishments? Would you want to know how and why he did what he did? Does he have any suggestions for you? Leonardo died over 500 years ago. Hes not available for an interview, but we can still try to find answers to these questions.
He painted two of the best known paintings ever: the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He sought to understand a wide range of things in the natural world. His notebooks are filled with sketches and thoughts about mechanics, anatomy, motion, optics, the flow of liquids, and weapons of war. He developed a plan for the total redesign of the city of Milan as the Ideal City, although it was never constructed. He sculpted the largest ever statue of a horse for a monument, but it was destroyed before being cast into bronze. He studied birds in flight and designed a variety of flying machines, including the helicopter and the parachute.
Da Vinci was well aware of his genius and once said: I wish to work miracles but he was also his greatest critic.
I have offended God and mankind because my work didnt reach the quality it should have.
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Leonardo da Vinci
In 200 AD, most of Europe was ruled by the Roman Empire. But more than a century of civil unrest and invasion by outsiders resulted in a weakened Rome. It had a new capital in what is now the city of Istanbul in Turkey. In 330, Emperor Constantine named his new capital Constantinople. Shortly thereafter he declared that Christianity was the favoured religion of Rome. By 476, the western part of the empire broke up into self-governing regions known as feudalism. Over time, regional powers became what we now recognize as nations. Latin was transformed into modern day languages such as French and Spanish. The Catholic Church, with its headquarters in Rome, was the one institution to link the regional powers that had once been part of the Roman Empire. The Church was very conservative and for a 1,000 years restricted independent thinking. This began to change in the 14th century.
The Renaissance grew first in Italy, then spread throughout the rest of Europe. Ordinary people began reading classic literature and experimenting with new ways of thinking and creating art. Explorers, such as Columbus, expanded the boundaries of the known world. Art, culture and trade flourished. A newly wealthy merchant class challenged the rule of the church. Through a series of wars, city-states merged into nations that were governed by powerful kings who challenged the authority of the church. Old ideas of democracy and the rule by law, borrowed from the Greeks and Romans, began to shape politics. The fundamentals of our modern world were reborn.
Renaissance: Lady with an Ermine, Da Vinci, 1483-1490 Painting in the Middle Ages was very different from the previous Greco-Roman style and that of the Renaissance. The subjects were mostly religious and they were painted flat with little attention to perspective. Realism returned in the Renaissance.
Middle Ages: Castles were built for defence. People were isolated from one another and new ideas. The Renaissance occurred first where large cities developed, trade increased, and new ideas could be expressed openly.
The invention of the printing press and moveable type by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440 opened the way for the first time to mass production of books.
Leonardo sought to understand what is beautiful and what is ugly by drawing both. This is a Study of Grotesque Heads from 1490.
Leonardos fresco, The Last Supper, is noted for its brilliance of design, although the painting has not held up well over time. The paint began peeling from the wall soon after it was finished.
The Mona Lisa (painted by Leonardo between 1503-1506) is the most famous painting in history No one knows who was the model for Mona Lisa, but there are those who suggest that Leonardo, himself, was the model.
The Baptism of Christ by Verrocchio. The kneeling angel on the left was painted by his apprentice, Leonardo da Vinci.
Among the artists who shared the limelight of the Renaissance with Leonardo was the equally famous painter and sculptor, Michelangelo. This 13 high marble statue of David is said to best all previous sculptures for its proportion and beauty. Michelangelo was paid 400 crowns for his work in 1504.
Notice the hazy background in this painting by da Vinci. This is an example of the use of sfumato in painting.
Leonardo was the first person to draw parts of the body in cross-section.
Leonardo was the first person to note that the number of rings of a tree were the same as its age. He was also the first person to describe the arrangement of leaves in plants.
Helicopter.
This drawing was found scribbled in one of Leonardos notebooks. It is generally agreed that it was not drawn by Leonardo. Some believe it was drawn by a student of Leonardos. Others believe it is a hoax, drawn by someone else years later. It is known that Da Vinci conceived of a two-wheeled, self-propelled vehicle.
Although some of his inventions, like the extendable ladder, were practical in his time, others, such as the helicopter, would be useful only after hundreds of years later. They required new technologies, such as the internal combustion engine. The long list of Leonardos inventions includes:
Da Vinci designed the first car. It was to have been powered by springs. 500 years after his death, a group of engineers built a model of the vehicle. It worked.
Car and Bicycle Various flying machines Helicopter Adjustable monkey wrench Snorkel and undersea diving suit Folding furniture Olive press Folding boat Revolving stage Three-speed gear shift Machine for cutting screw threads Automated loom and other machines
Leonardo lived hundreds of years before many of his ideas were fully implemented. He was both a man of his time and a man of the future.
From flight to deep sea exploration, much in our modern world was first visualized by Leonardo.
I am emboldened without prejudice to anyone else to put myself in communication with your Excellency, in order to acquaint you with my secrets
Leonardo listed among his capabilities: I know methods of destroying any citadel or fortress, even if it is built on rock. I can make covered cars, safe and unassailable, which will enter the serried ranks of the enemy with artillery, and there is no company of men at arms so great as not to be broken by it. I can make cannon, mortars, and light ordinance, of very beautiful and useful shapes, quite different from those in common use. At the end, almost as an afterthought, Leonardo states: Also I can execute sculpture in marble, bronze, or clay, and also painting, in which my work will stand comparison with that of anyone else whoever he may be.
Giant cross-bow.
Duke Sforza commissioned Leonardo to create an enormous bronze horse for a monument. This is a preliminary sketch for the monument. Leonardo sculpted the 24 high horse from clay, but we do not know exactly what it looked like. Sforza became embroiled in a war and used the bronze for the horse to make weapons. The full-scale clay model of the horse was destroyed by opposition soldiers.
Although Leonardo got the they would have worked. job, he spent most of his time designing pageants, balls and costumes. Such was the lot of the most brilliant person to walk the Earth, that for some amount of time, he was employed by the 15th centurys version of the entertainment industry.
Many of Leonardos weapon designs were fanciful, like this horse-drawn chariot with rotating scythes. It is not clear whether
Leonardos notebooks included text scribbled backwards and rough sketches, but rarely had the detail needed by others to fully understand his work.
Multiple Intelligences
Dr. Howard Gardner identified seven types of intelligence. These are listed below along with people who are good examples of this type of intelligence.
Logical-Mathematical (Isaac Newton, Marie Curie) Verbal-Linguistic (William Shakespeare, Emily Dickenson) Spatial-Mechanical (Buckminster Fuller, Georgia OKeeffe) Musical (Mozart, Ella Fitzgerald) Bodily-Kinesthetic (Mohammad Ali, Nancy Greene) Interpersonal-Social (Queen Elizabeth I, Nelson Mandela) Intrapersonal (Viktor Frankl, Mother Teresa)
How many of these qualities do you have? What additional qualities do you think are important for todays Renaissance Person?
Discussion Points
1. A Renaissance person is someone who has many interests and talents. Can you name a few people today who meet that definition? 2. Leonard was a brilliant thinker, but he did not make a great deal of difference in his time. Why do you think that was? What advice would you have given him if you were his friend. 3. Can you think of people who show great promise but ultimately fail because of weaknesses they cant overcome? 4. Of all of Leonardos inventions, which one would you have liked him to have focused on and brought to completion? Do you think if he had done so it would have changed his time? Would it have had a long term impact and changed our time as well?
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