Transcript File - Mrs. Walroth`s Classroom

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
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Born in small town in Tuscany
– Outside of Vinci (near Florence)
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Called the genius of the Renaissance
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Art
Inventions
Scientific discoveries
Fortifications, assault weaponry
Constant experimentation
Archetype of the Renaissance Man
Struggled with patronage
Apprenticeship
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Nature was his teacher – much of his art is based on
the laws and principals of nature
Apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio for almost 10
years
Legend has it that
Verrocchio used a
young Leonardo as his
model for his famous
David and the angel
Raphael in Tobias and
the Angel.
Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci.
The Annunciation. c. 1472-1475.
Oil and tempera on wood.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
Andrea del Verrocchio
and Leonardo da Vinci.
The Baptism of Christ.
c.1472-1475.
Oil and tempera on wood
Uffizi Gallery, Florence,
Italy
Possibly the
only extant
sculptures of
Vinci’s
Beheading of St. John the Baptist - Museo Dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence
12 1/8-inch by 16 1/2-inch altar panel made for the Baptistery in Florence
Leonardo da Vinci. Adoration of the Magi. 1481-1482. Oil on wood.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
•http://smarthistory.khan
academy.org/leonardoadoration-of-themagi.html
•Orange-brown paint is
the work of another
artist.
•Vinci’s grayish sketch
done in lampblack mixed
with diluted glue and
covered by a primer of
white lead
Back to Leonardo's Page
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•Abandoned in 1482, left
in the hands of Amerigo
de’ Benci
•Bottom part lopped off,
water damage
Leonardo da Vinci.
Portrait of Cecilia
Gallerani (Lady with an
Ermine).
c.1490. Oil on wood.
Czartorychi Muzeum, Cracow,
Poland.
•Leonardo wrote a letter to the
ruler of Milan, Duke Ludovico il
Moro (Sforza) in which he
recommended himself as a military
inventor and engineer.
•He claimed that he could make
bridges 'indestructible by fire and
battle', and 'chariots, safe and
unassailable'. To this he added at
the end that he was also an
architect, a sculptor and a painter.
•1482-1499 with Ludovico
Meijer Sculpture Gardens, Grand Rapids, MI
Leonardo’s Notebooks
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Renaissance humanism recognized no mutually
exclusive polarities between the sciences and the
arts, and Leonardo's studies in science and
engineering are as impressive and innovative as
his artistic work.
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Flying machines
Submarines
Turbines
Elevators
Ideal cities
Anatomy (close to discovering the circulation path of
blood)
◦ Geology
◦ Botany
The Value of a da Vinci Notebook…
Actual photo
of the
secondary
light phenomenon.
Leonardo's
depiction of
the
secondary
light
phenomenon
In 1994, this 36-folio manuscript was acquired by Bill Gates at the
Armand Hammer estate auction.
The analysis of movement of the water is a central theme, together
with studies of geology (fossils, the circulation of water and natural
disasters) and astronomy.
Bill Gates plunked down $30.8 million for the Codex
Leicester (making it the most expensive book ever sold)!
Portrait of the Executed
Bernardo di Bandino
Baroncelli, 1479
On December 29, 1479, Leonardo made
this portrait of Baroncelli who was
condemned to death for his part in the
Pazzi conspiracy to kill the Medici sons,
Guiliano and Lorenzo.
Leonardo da Vinci.
The Neck and Shoulder of
a Man.
c.1509-1510.
Pen and ink on paper.
Windsor Castle, Windsor,
UK.
Leonardo da Vinci. The
Foetus in the Womb. c.15101512. Pen and ink with wash
over black chalk and red
chalk on paper. Windsor
Castle, Windsor, UK.
Leonardo da Vinci.
Head Measured, and
Horsemen.
c.1490 and 1504.
Pen, ink and red chalk on
paper.
Gallerie dell'Accademia,
Venice, Italy.
LEONARDO’S
Inventions
MULTIBARRELLED
MACHINE GUN
TANK OR
ARMOURED CAR
GIANT CROSSBOW
Leonardo da Vinci. Battle Cart with Mobile Scythes.
c. 1485. Pen and ink with wash on paper. Biblioteca Reale, Turin, Italy.
PARACHUTE
Leonardo da Vinci. The
Proportions of the Human
Figure (Vitruvian Man).
1490.
Pen, ink and watercolor over
metalpoint.
Gallerie dell'Accademia,
Venice,Italy.
Vinci believed the workings of the
human body to be an analogy for the
workings of the universe.
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Leonardo used both
image and text to
express the ideas and
theories of Vitruvius, a
first century Roman
architect and author of
'De Architectura libri X'.
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The Vitruvian ideas,
presented by Leonardo,
formed the basis of
Renaissance proportion
theories in art and
architecture.
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Many artists tried to illustrate this divine
relationship, but with varying success.
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An illustration of Vitruvian man by
Cesariano in his Cosmo Vitruvius of
1521 reeks of failure.
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Cesariano drew a perfect circle and
square tangent to each other at the four
points of the square; then he forced a
figure of a man into the design so that
his hands and feet touch the points.
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The result was one of the most
disproportioned figures of the
Renaissance, with arms too long, legs
too short, and hands and feet too big.
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A system of relationships alone did not
make beauty happen.
da Vinci’s drive to understand who we are and
why…
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His studies of proportion fuse artistic and
scientific objectives.
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Movement and liveliness in arms, legs
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Thin lines on his form show the significant
points of the proportion scheme. These lines
indicate da Vinci's concern with the
architectural meaning of the work.
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Leonardo is representing the body as a
building and illustrating Renaissance theory,
which linked the proportions of the human
body with architectural planning.
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Basic geometric shapes and proportions are
central building blocks in nature – and in
human nature.
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Represents a cornerstone of Leonardo's
attempts to relate man to nature.
Shady Patronage…
1492-1503 Alexander VI, a.k.a
Borgia pope
Cesare Borgia by Bembo in
Galleria dell' Accademia
Carrara
(1475 - 1507,
cardinal from
1493 -1498)
•Known for nepotism, corruption,
luxury, arrogance, brazen favoritism
of the Spanish to detriment of the
local people.
•The Dominican monk Girolamo
Savonarola preached against them
and for this reason Alexander had
him burned alive.
Alexander’s illegitimate son Cesare Borgia
(legitimized through a papal bull) was a murderer
and adventurer
 Patron to Leonardo from 1502-03
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First Version
The Madonna (Virgin)
of the Rocks
1483-5
Oil on Canvas
(originally panel)
78¼ x 48"
Commissioned –
1483
The Louvre, Paris
Second Version
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It brings the viewer closer to
the figures
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It is much bluer and has an air
of flowing waters
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Other new or changed
elements include
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St. John's cross of reeds;
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the hand of the angel which
no longer points at St. John;
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the halos and the lighter
drapery.
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Both the halos and the cross
were a later addition done by
an unknown artist.
Louvre, Paris – 1st version
National Gallery, London – 2nd version
"The heavens often rain
down the richest gifts on
human beings, but
sometimes they bestow
with lavish abundance
upon a single individual
beauty, grace and ability,
so that whatever he does,
every action is so divine
that he distances all other
men, and clearly displays
how his greatness is a gift
of God and not an
acquirement of human
art. Men saw this in
Leonardo."
Georgio Vasari
(1511-1574)
(author of 'The Lives of
The Artists')
The Battle of Anghiari (detail) 1503-05
Black chalk, pen and ink, watercolour on paper, 452 x 637 mm
Musée du Louvre, Paris – Copy, executed by Reubens
Leonardo da Vinci. The Last Supper.
c.1495-1498. Oil and tempera on plaster.
Santa Maria delle Grazie, Refectory, Milan, Italy
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/leonardo-last-supper.html
Close up of deterioration, after
restorations in which overpaintings from past centuries
have been removed.
Part of the
irreparable
damage is from
Leonardo’s own
experimentation
with paint
techniques.
Leonardo da Vinci.
Self-Portrait.
1512.
Red chalk on paper.
Biblioteka Reale, Turin,
Italy.
New Artistic Techniques
 Sfumato
Chiaroscuro
 from Italian sfumare,
 A word borrowed
“to tone down,” or
from Italian ("light and
“to evaporate like
shade" or “dark")
smoke”
referring to the
creation of volume by  The blurring or
depicting light and
softening of sharp
shade by contrasting
outlines in painting by
them boldly.
subtle and gradual
blending of one color
 strengthening an
or tone into another.
illusion of depth
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MONA LISA (La GIOCONDA)
c. 1503-1506
Oil on pine panel
30 x 20 7/8 in.) Louvre, Paris
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.o
rg/leonardo-mona-lisa.html
Vinci kept it with him until his
death in 1519 in Amboise, France
Speculation that a second portrait
exists – for Guiliano de’ Medici,
who may have been her lover
• Chiaroscuro – use of
shading and light to create the
illusion of roundness, depth
•Sfumato – use of shading,
blending to create the illusion of
depth of perspective in the
background
Reverse Leonardo’s
self portrait – the
noses, mouths,
foreheads,
cheekbones, eyes and
brows match up
Leonardo da Vinci.
St. John the Baptist.
c.1513-1516.
Oil on wood.
Louvre, Paris, France.