Leonardo da Vinci
Biography and Works
Renaissance Person
Leonardo was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer.
Biography
Amboise, France
Florence, Italy
Vinci, Italy
Milan, Italy
Worked for:
apprentice to Andrea del Verrochino,
Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan,
Cesare Borgia, Giuliano de Medici (Pope Leo X),
and Francis I
Facts about his life:
-Started painting at age 14
-did not complete most paintings
-drew helicopters/planes before
they were invented
-he was left handed
-he never married or had children
-wrote his notes in reverse
The Vitruvian Man
The image is a representation of Leonardo da Vinci's obsession with proportionality and symmetry, it depicts the "ideal" man relating him to nature, God's creation of a "medical equilibrium"
Named after Marcus Vitruvious Pollio, a famous architect, it shows that Leonardo saw that the ideal human body was as proportional as a building
Technique:
Leonardo used proportionality and symmetry to create the Vitruvian Man
Mona Lisa
The image depicts what Leonardo saw as a miraculous creation of nature, it promotes a universal meaning, it created what other portraits didn't, mystery, he created soul without the use of outward symbols
Technique:
The technique of sfumato was used to paint the Mona Lisa with oil paints, sfumato is the ability to get colors to gradually fade into one another to create softer lines and shadows. This allowed the Mona Lisa to look more lifelike.
The Last Supper
The image shows Leonardo's interpretation of what the gospel tells us is the evening before Christ was betrayed and put to death, His celebration of the Passover with his apostles, specifically the moment after he told them one of them would betray him.
Technique:
Leonardo painted the mural on the wall in layers (like tempera on panel) rather then like a fresco, he also used persepective to paint the building behind the table.
References:
"Da Vinci Interesting Facts." Da Vinci Interesting Facts. N.p., 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.