Leonardo da Vinci

(1452-1519)

Kevin J. Benoy

Early Life
Leonardo was born in
Vinci, a short distance
from Florence.
He was the illegitimate
son of a notary.
His father married four
times and had 11 children
but Leonardo was 20
before the 2nd child was
born
The village of Vinci

Training
His father apprenticed
him to Andrea del
Verrocchio (True
Eyes) in Florence.
Leonardo was likely
the model for
Verocchios David.

A Young Master
By the age of 20 he
surpassed his master,
painting The Baptism
of Christ in 1472.
It is rumoured that
Verrochio never
painted again after
this.

A Young Master

Preliminary Sketch for the painting

The Adoration of the Magi

By 1474 he had
his own
workshop,
producing The
Adoration of the
Magi, which
artists studied
from his time
onward.

A Flawed Genius
Leonardo was witty, charming and exceedingly
handsome. He sang and played music
brilliantly.
He was a superb host and organizer, but he was
reluctant to get close to anyone probably
because of his homosexuality, which was a
crime at the time.
He thought sex with women hideous, though
he admired their ability to produce life.
He was twice charged with sodomy, though
each time the charge was dropped.

A Flawed Genius

Salai as John the Baptist

At 38, a 10 year old boy,

Gian Gicomo de
Caprotti , was sent to his
workshop and a strange
relationship developed.
Leonardo called him
Salia little Satan,
and he described him as
thievish, lying,
obstinate and greedy,
yet the artist doted on
him.

A Universal Man
There was little that
Leonardo did not excel at.
He was a painter, a
sculptor, an engineer, a
musician, a singer, a
mathematician, a
physicist, a botanist, an
anatomist, a cartographer,
a geologist, a geographer,
a poet, a town planner and
an athlete.

A Universal Man
He always wanted to
write a treatise on
painting (like Alberti),
but never did.
He seems to have not
mastered Latin, the
language of
scholarship.
- or perhaps he was
simply too busy.

The Notebooks
Leonardo kept notes on
everything.
Around 5,000 pages still
exist.
However, he used mirrorwriting to ensure privacy
while and after he wrote.
More mundanely,
perhaps he did so
because he was left
handed and found this
easier.

The Notebooks
Leonardo made notes
on everything.
His notes and sketches
reveal a mind
constantly searching
for understanding.
He was constantly
examining and
disecting the world.

The Notebooks
His studies were
large and small
from anatomical
studies of the
human arm to
plans for a bridge
to cross the
Golden Horn in
Istanbul.

The Notebooks
Curiously, the
Sultan declined
building Leonardos
span, thinking it
impossible.
In 2006 the Turkish
government
commissioned
Bulent Gungor to
build the structure.
Leonardos design

Poor Completion Record

He had a reputation for
not completing works.
Involved in so many
things, he could not
manage his time.
When given the
commission for the Virgin
of the Rocks, he promised
it within 7 months but did
not deliver it until 25
years later.

The Great Horse

In the 1480s he began work on
the largest equestrian statue ever
attempted, at 26 feet in height and
requiring 100 tons of bronze.
The clay model was not
completed until 1493.
His bronze stockpile was cast into
canons to fight the French.
In 1499, the French used his clay
model for target practice.
Until 1965 it was assumed that
the statue was never caste
because of technological
problems. However, close study
of his notebooks reveal that he
solved the problem on paper.

The Last Supper

Leonardo was
commissioned to paint
this for the refectory
of a Dominican
monastery.
He disastrously
decided to use oils,
instead of fresco, on
the damp walls.
It deteriorated almost
immediately.

The Last Supper

Painting in fits and starts,
and usually with hired
musicians playing for him,
the project dragged on to
the point where the monks
threatened to lock him in
until the work was
finished.
Legend has it that
Leonardo retaliated by
painting the abbot as the
image of Judas.

In Florence.
From 1500 to 1513 he lived
productively in Florence.
There he competed, with
Michelangelo, for a large
battle mural for the town
hall.
This work was lost when he
again attempted a new
medium oil and varnish.
Michelangelo also failed to
complete his work.

The Mona Lisa (La Giaconda)

This oil on panel is his
most famous work.
Begun in 1503, it was
still in his possession
when he died in
France.
Salai sold it to the
French King for 4,000
ecus, and so it now
resides in the Louvre.

The Mona Lisa (La Giaconda)

The subject is Lisa
Gherardini, wife of
Francesco del Giocondo.
The pyramidic design is
one often employed by
Leonardo.
The etherial landscape
reveals his characteristic
sfumato and the path
reinforces the tendency of
the eye to follow a
triangular pattern.

The Mona Lisa (La Giaconda)

The enigmatic
smile is most
frequently
commented on.
His capture of
this transient
expression
displays
unparalleled
virtuosity.

The Mona Lisa (La Giaconda)

There is a hypothesis
that this is actually not
a direct portrait of a
Florentine woman at
all or that da Vinci
has placed elements of
his own image in the
portrait..

Leonardo in Rome
In 1513, Leonardo
departed to Rome, to
avoid being hounded
to complete the civic
mural.
Pope Leo X was
loathe to commission
the great artist,
knowing his reputation
for not completing his
work.

Leonardo in France

Clos-Luce given to Leonardo by

Francis I

In 1516, Leonardo was

invited to join the
court of Frances
Francis I a great
patron of the arts.
There, he spent his last
years in luxury,
chatting with the King
and fussing with his
manuscripts.

Leonardo in France
Leonardos home was
just a short distance
from Francischateau
at Amboise.
He is rumoured to
have died in Francis
arms.
Francis said of him:
no man has been
born who knew as
much as Leonardo.

Finis