Transcript Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da
Vinci
The Genius of the
Renaissance
Early Life
• Born April 15, 1452
• Child of a public employee and a peasant
woman
• Was extremely curious and observed
the natural world for hours
• Showed talent as an artist at a very
early age
• Apprenticed to Verrocchio, famous
Florentine painter
• Assisted Verrocchio with The Baptism of
Christ, and other works
The Naturalist
• Felt the best way to learn about the world was
to observe
• Spent hours studying and sketching the natural
world
Studied flow
of water,
theorized on
creation of
canals similar
to the Panama
Canal, opened
in 1914
Studied flight of birds,
theorized on flight of
man
The Anatomist
• Received corpses from Florence
morgue
• Dissected corpses to study the
body and how it works
• Believed understanding human
anatomy enhanced his art
• First to diagram skeletal and
muscular system, the eye,
brain, heart and human fetus
• Discoveries were hundreds of
years ahead of their time, but
were not published after his
death
The
Armored
• If asked, Leonardo would have said
Tank;
he was first an engineer
designed so
it could not
• Most of his designs were never
be built
built
• System for operating a steering
wheel
Multi• Portable bridges built 500 years later
barreled
The Engineer
Diving Suit
Designed the
parachute 300
years before
the first jump
cannon on
a cart selfdriven
with gears
and
weights
Flight
• Fascinated with human flight
Studied forms
of birds and
bats to design
this
”ornithopter”
– a crank
allowed the
pilot to flap
the wings
Leonardo’s
Helicopter,
the “Aerial
Screw”
The Sculptor
• As a sculptor, da Vinci was fascinated
with horses
• Designed a massive bronze sculpture for
the Duke of Milan
• Bronze was assembled, but made
into weapons when Milan was
attacked
• Horse was not built during da
Vinci’s life
• Completed in 1999 as a gift from a
foundation in USA to Milan
The Painter
• Leonardo is definitely most well-known as a painter
• Often made his own paints
• Pioneered layering of paint and the use of
perspective and vanishing points
• Invented sfumato (smoke) technique, where
colors blended without clear lines of division
Life Summary
• Considered the greatest mind
of the Renaissance and the
greatest example of the
“Renaissance Man”
• A person of many different
talents
• Leonardo served Dukes,
Kings, Popes
• Died quietly of old age at his
home in Amboise, France
• May 2, 1519