Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in the village of Anchiato near the city of Vinci (hence the prefix to his surname). The boy's father and mother were not married, so Leonardo spent his first years with his mother. Soon his father, who served as a notary, took him to his family.
In 1466, da Vinci became an apprentice in the studio of the artist Verrocchio in Florence, where Perugino, Agnolo di Polo, Lorenzo di Credi also studied, Botticelli worked, Ghirlandaio visited, etc. At this time, Leonardo became interested in drawing, sculpture and modeling, studied metallurgy, chemistry , drawing, mastered work with plaster, leather, metal. In 1473, da Vinci qualified as a master at the Guild of Saint Luke.
Early creativity and scientific activity
At the beginning of his career, Leonardo devoted almost all his time to working on paintings. In 1472 - 1477 the artist created the paintings "The Baptism of Christ", "Annunciation", "Madonna with a Vase". In the late 1970s he completed Madonna with a Flower (Madonna Benois). In 1481, the first major work in the work of Leonardo da Vinci, The Adoration of the Magi, was created.
In 1482 Leonardo moved to Milan. Since 1487, da Vinci has been developing a flying machine, which was based on bird flight. Leonardo first created the simplest apparatus based on wings, and then developed the mechanism of an airplane with full control. However, it was not possible to bring the idea to life, since the researcher did not have a motor. In addition, Leonardo studied anatomy and architecture, discovered botany as an independent discipline.
Mature period of creativity
In 1490, da Vinci creates the painting “Lady with an Ermine”, as well as the famous drawing “Vitruvian Man”, which is sometimes called “canonical proportions”. In 1495 - 1498, Leonardo worked on one of his most important works - the fresco "The Last Supper" in Milan in the monastery of Santa Maria del Grazie.
In 1502, da Vinci entered the service of Cesare Borgia as a military engineer and architect. In 1503 the artist creates the painting "Mona Lisa" ("La Gioconda"). Since 1506, Leonardo has served under King Louis XII of France.
Last years
In 1512, the artist, under the auspices of Pope Leo X, moved to Rome.
From 1513 to 1516, Leonardo da Vinci lived in the Belvedere, working on the painting "John the Baptist". In 1516, Leonardo, at the invitation of the French king, settled in the Clos-Luce castle. Two years before his death, the artist's right hand went numb, it was difficult for him to move independently. Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his brief biography in bed.
The great artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci died on May 2, 1519 in the Clos Luce castle near the city of Amboise in France.
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The history of mankind, in fact, knows not so many geniuses who were ahead of this or that era with each of their actions. Some of what they created firmly entered the life of their contemporaries, but something remained on the drawings and manuscripts: the master looked too far ahead. The latter can be fully applied to Leonardo da Vinci, a brilliant artist, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, architect, sculptor, philosopher and writer - a true man of the Renaissance. Perhaps, in the history of medieval knowledge there is no area that the great master of the Enlightenment would not touch.
The sphere of his activity covers not only space (Italy-France), but also time. Isn't it surprising that the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci now cause the same heated debate, admiration, as in the years of his life? Such a "formula of immortality" can rightfully be considered the greatest discovery in history. What are its components? The answer to this question would like to receive almost every person on the planet. Some even decided that it was best to ask Leonardo himself about this, “resurrecting” the master with the help of modern scientific developments. However, the main components of the "formula" are visible to the naked eye: potential genius, multiplied by incredible curiosity and a large share of humanism. And yet, any genius is a dreamer-practitioner. Judge for yourself, all the work of Leonardo da Vinci (here we include not only sketches, paintings, frescoes, but also all the scientific research of the Master) can be imagined as steps towards the realization of mankind's long dreams of perfection. Did you want a person to fly like a bird? So you need to make him a semblance of wings! Christ walked on water, so why shouldn't ordinary mortals have such an opportunity? Let's design water skis!
The whole life and work of Leonardo da Vinci were filled with attempts to answer numerous questions about the laws of the universe, reveal the secrets of life and direct them to the service of mankind. After all, do not forget that a man of the Renaissance is, first of all, a great humanist.
The biography of Leonardo da Vinci is, figuratively speaking, the story of several souls enclosed in the body of one person. Indeed, in each of the areas studied, he exhibits very special qualities that, in the understanding of ordinary people, can hardly belong to one single person. Maybe that's why some people tried to prove that Leonardo da Vinci is just a pseudonym taken by a group of people. However, the theory was doomed to failure almost before its birth.
Today, da Vinci is known to us to a greater extent as an unsurpassed artist. Unfortunately, no more than 15 of his works have come down to us, while the rest either simply did not stand the test of time due to the master’s constant experiments with technique and materials, or are considered not yet found. However, those works that have come down to us remain the most famous and most copied masterpieces of art in the world.
Biography of Leonardo da Vinci
The baby, later baptized under the name of Leonardo, was born, as recorded in the church book, "on Saturday, April 15, 1452 from the birth of Christ" from an extramarital affair between a peasant woman Katerina and a notary, ambassador of the Florentine Republic, sir Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a descendant of wealthy revered Italian family. The father, who at that time had no other heirs, wished to take his son into his house and give him a proper education. The only thing known for sure about the mother is that she officially married a man from a peasant family and gave him 7 more children. By the way, Leonardo's father was also subsequently married four times and presented his first-born (who, by the way, he never made his official heir) ten more brothers and two sisters.
All further biography of da Vinci is closely connected with his work, the events of the master's life, the people he met, naturally, left their traces in the development of his worldview. Thus, the meeting with Andrea Verrocchio determined the beginning of his journey in art. At the age of 16, Leonardo became a student of the studio of the famous master Verrocchio. It is in the workshop of Verrocchio that Leonardo gets the opportunity to prove himself as an artist: the teacher allows him to paint the face of an angel for the famous Baptism of Christ.
At the age of 20, da Vinci became a member of the St. Luke, the painters' guild, still working in the workshop of Verocquil until 1476. One of his first independent works Madonna with a Carnation is dated to the same period. Ten years later, Leonardo is invited to Milan, where he remains to work until 1501. Here, Leonardo's talents are widely used not only as an artist, but also as a sculptor, decorator, organizer of all kinds of masquerades and tournaments, a man who created amazing mechanical devices. Two years later, the master returns to his native Florence, where he paints his legendary fresco "The Battle of Angiani".
Like most Renaissance masters, da Vinci travels a lot, leaving a memory of himself in every city he visits. Towards the end of his life, he becomes "the first royal artist, engineer and architect" under Francois I, working on the architectural device of the castle of Cloud. However, this work remained unfinished: da Vinci died in 1519, at the age of 67. Now in the castle of Cloux, only a double spiral staircase has remained from the plan originally conceived by the great Leonardo, while the rest of the architecture of the castle was repeatedly altered by subsequent dynasties of French kings.
The work of Leonardo da Vinci
Despite Leonardo's numerous scientific studies, his fame as a scientist and inventor fades somewhat before the glory of Leonardo the artist, whose few surviving works have fascinated and excited the mind and imagination of mankind for almost 400 years. It was in the field of painting that many of the works of da Vinci devoted to the nature of light, chemistry, biology, physiology and anatomy found their application.
His paintings remain the most mysterious works of art. They are copied in search of the secret of such skill, they are discussed and argued about by entire generations of art connoisseurs, critics and even writers. Leonardo considered painting a branch of applied science. Among the many factors that make da Vinci's works unique, one of the main ones is the innovative techniques and experiments applied by the master in his works, as well as deep knowledge of anatomy, botany, geology, optics and even the human soul... Looking at the portraits he created, we indeed, we see not just an artist, but an attentive observer, a psychologist who has managed to understand the physical expression of the emotional component of the human personality. Da Vinci not only managed to understand this himself, but also found techniques to transfer this knowledge onto canvas with photographic accuracy. An unsurpassed master of sfumato and chiaroscuro, Leonardo da Vinci put all the power of his knowledge into the most famous works - Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
Leonardo believed that the best character to depict on canvas is a person whose body movements most correspond to the movements of his soul. This belief can be considered da Vinci's creative credo. In his works, it was embodied in the fact that in his entire life he painted only one portrait of a man, preferring women as models, as more emotional personalities.
Early period of creativity
The periodization of the creative biography of Leonardo da Vinci is rather arbitrary: some of his works are not dated, and the chronology of the master's life is also not always accurate. The very beginning of da Vinci's career can be considered the day when his father, Ser Piero, showed some sketches of his 14-year-old son to his friend Andrea del Verrocchio.
After a year, during which Leonardo was entrusted only with cleaning canvases, grinding paints and doing other preparatory work, Verrocchio began to acquaint his student with the traditional techniques of painting, engraving, architecture and sculpture. Here Leonardo gained knowledge of the basics of chemistry, metallurgy, mastered woodworking and even the beginnings of mechanics. Only to him, his best student, Verrocchio entrusts the completion of his work. During this period, Leonardo does not create his own works, but eagerly absorbs everything related to the chosen profession. Together with his teacher, he is working on The Baptism of Christ (1472-1475). The play of light and shadow, the features of the face of the little angel, which da Vinci was entrusted to write, impressed Verrocchio so much that he considered himself surpassed by his own student and decided never to take up the brush again. It is also believed that Leonardo became the model for the bronze sculpture of David and the image of the Archangel Michael.
In 1472, Leonardo was included in the "Red Book" of the guild of St. Luke is the famous union of artists and doctors of Florence. At the same time, the first notable works of da Vinci appeared, which brought him fame: an ink sketch “Landscape of Santa Maria dela Neve” and “Annunciation”. He improves the technique of sfumato, bringing it to an unprecedented perfection. Now a light haze - sfumato - is not just a thin layer of blurred paint, but a really light veil of living fog. Despite the fact that by 1476. da Vinci opens his own workshop and receives his own orders, he still works closely with Verrocchio, treating his teacher with deep reverence and respect. The Madonna with a Carnation, one of the most significant works of da Vinci, is dated the same year.
Mature period of creativity
At the age of 26, da Vinci begins a completely independent career, and also begins a more detailed study of various aspects of natural science and becomes a teacher himself. During this period, even before his departure for Milan, Leonardo begins work on the "Adoration of the Magi", which he never completed. It is possible that this was a kind of revenge on da Vinci for the fact that Pope Sixtus IV rejected his candidacy when choosing an artist for painting the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican in Rome. Perhaps the fashion for Neoplatonism that dominated that era in Florence also played a role in da Vinci's decision to leave for a rather academic and pragmatic Milan, which was more in line with his spirit. In Milan, Leonardo takes on the creation of the "Madonna in the Grotto" for the altar of the chapel. This work clearly shows that da Vinci already has a certain knowledge in the field of biology and geodesy, since the plants and the grotto itself are written out with maximum realism. All proportions and laws of composition are observed. However, despite such an amazing performance, this picture for many years became the subject of contention between the author and customers. Da Vinci devotes the years of this period to recording his thoughts, drawings, and deeper research. It is quite possible that a certain musician, Migliorotti, was involved in his departure to Milan. Just a letter from this man, which described the amazing works of engineering by the “senior, who also paints,” was enough for da Vinci to receive an invitation to work under the auspices of Ludovic Sforza, away from rivals and ill-wishers. Here he gets some freedom for creativity and research. And also organizes performances and celebrations, technical equipment of the stage of the court theater. In addition, Leonardo paints many portraits for the Milanese court.
Late period of creativity
It was during this period that da Vinci thought more about military-technical projects, studied urban planning and proposed his own model of an ideal city.
Also, during his stay in one of the monasteries, he receives an order for a sketch for the image of the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus, St. Anna and John the Baptist. The work turned out to be so impressive that the viewer felt himself present at the described event, part of the picture.
In 1504, many students who consider themselves followers of da Vinci leave Florence, where he stayed to put his numerous notes and drawings in order, and move with their teacher to Milan. From 1503 to 1506 Leonardo begins work on La Gioconda. Mona Lisa del Giocondo, born Lisa Maria Gherardini, was chosen as the model. Numerous variants of the plot of the famous painting still do not leave indifferent artists and critics.
In 1513 Leonardo da Vinci moves to Rome for some time at the invitation of Pope Leon X, or rather, to the Vatican, where Raphael and Michelangelo are already working. A year later, Leonardo begins the Afterwards series, which is a kind of response to the version proposed by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. The master does not forget his passion for engineering, working on the problem of draining swamps in the territory of the Duke Julien de Medici's possessions.
One of the most grandiose architectural projects of this period becomes for da Vinci the Cloux castle in Amboise, where the master himself invites the king of France, Francois I, to work. Over time, their relationship becomes much closer than just business. Francois often listens to the opinion of the great scientist, treats him like a father, and grieves da Vinci's death in 1519. Leonardo dies in the spring from a serious illness at the age of 67, having bequeathed his manuscripts and brushes to his student, Francesco Melzi.
Inventions of Leonardo da Vinci
It may seem incredible, but some inventions made in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. in fact, they have already been described in the writings of da Vinci, as well as some of the things we are used to. It seems that what the master would not mention in his manuscripts does not exist at all. There is even an alarm! Of course, its design is significantly different from what we see today, however, the invention deserves attention if only because of its design: scales, the bowls of which are filled with liquid. Overflowing from one bowl to another, water activates a mechanism that pushes or lifts the legs of a dozing person. It's hard not to wake up in such conditions!
However, the true genius of Leonardo the engineer is evident in his mechanical and architectural innovations. He managed to realize the latter almost completely (with the exception of the project of an ideal city). But with regard to mechanics, it was far from being used right away. It is known that da Vinci was preparing to test his aircraft himself, but he was never designed, despite the detailed plan drawn up on paper. Yes, and a bicycle, created by a master from wood, also came into use a few centuries later, as, indeed, a mechanical self-propelled cart driven by two levers. However, the very principle of the wagon was applied to improve the loom during the life of da Vinci.
Being recognized as a genius of painting during his lifetime, Leonardo da Vinci dreamed of a career as a military engineer all his life, and therefore a special place in his work was given to the study of fortifications, military vehicles, and protective structures. So, it was he who developed excellent methods of repelling Turkish attacks in Venice, and even created a semblance of a protective suit. But since the Turks never attacked, the invention was not tested in action. In the same way, only a combat vehicle resembling a tank remained in the drawings.
In general, unlike works of painting, Leonardo's manuscripts and drawings have come down to our days in better condition and continue to be studied today. According to some drawings, even machines were recreated that were not destined to appear during the life of da Vinci.
Painting by Leonardo da Vinci
Most of da Vinci's works have not survived to this day due to the master's constant experiments not only with painting techniques, but also with tools: paints, canvases, primers. As a result of such experiments, the composition of paints on some frescoes and canvases did not stand the test of time, light, moisture.
In the manuscript devoted to the visual arts, da Vinci mainly focuses not so much on the technique of writing, but on a detailed presentation of the innovations he invented, which, by the way, had a huge impact on the further development of art. First of all, these are some practical tips regarding the preparation of instruments. So, Leonardo advises covering the canvas with a thin layer of glue, instead of the white primer mixture that was customary to use before. An image applied to a canvas prepared in this way is fixed much better than on the ground, especially if you write with tempera, which was widespread at that time. Oil came into use a little later, and da Vinci preferred to use it just for writing on a primed canvas.
Also, one of the features of da Vinci's painting style is a preliminary sketch of the conceived picture in transparent dark (brown) tones, the same tones were also used as the upper, final, layer of the entire work. In both cases, the completed work was endowed with a gloomy tinge. It is possible that over time the colors darkened even more precisely because of this feature.
Much of da Vinci's theoretical work is devoted to depicting human emotions. He talks a lot about the way of expressing feelings, cites his own research. There is even a case when Leonardo decided to experimentally test his guesses about how the facial muscles move during laughter and crying. Having invited a group of friends for dinner, he began to tell funny stories, making his guests laugh, da Vinci carefully watched the movement of muscles, facial expressions. Possessing a unique memory, he transferred what he saw to sketches with such accuracy that, according to eyewitnesses, people wanted to laugh along with the portraits.
Mona Lisa.
"Mona Lisa" aka "La Gioconda", the full name is a portrait of Mrs. Lisa del Giocondo, perhaps the most famous painting in the world. Leonardo painted the famous portrait from 1503 to 1506, but even during this period the portrait was not completely completed. Da Vinci did not want to part with his work, so the customer never got it, but he accompanied the master in all his travels until the very last day. After the death of the artist, the portrait was moved to the castle of Fontainebleau.
Gioconda has become the most mystical painting of all eras. It became the subject of research on artistic technique for masters of the 15th century. In the era of romanticism, artists and critics admired its mysteriousness. By the way, it is to the figures of this era that we owe such a magnificent halo of mystery that accompanies the Mona Lisa. The era of romanticism in art simply could not do without the mystical surroundings inherent in all brilliant masters and their works.
The plot of the picture is known to everyone today: a mysteriously smiling woman against the backdrop of a mountain landscape. However, numerous studies reveal more and more details that were not previously noticed. So, upon closer examination, it is clear that the lady in the portrait is dressed in full accordance with the fashion of her time, a dark transparent veil is thrown over her head. It would seem that this is nothing special.
Compliance with fashion can only mean that a woman does not belong to the poorest family. But held in 2006. by Canadian scientists, a more detailed analysis using modern laser equipment showed that this veil, in fact, envelops the entire camp of the model. It is this thinnest material that creates the effect of fog, which was previously attributed to the famous sfumato da Vinci. It is known that such veils, enveloping the whole body, and not just the head, were worn by pregnant women. It is quite possible that it is this state that is reflected in Mona Lisa's smile: the peace and tranquility of the expectant mother. Even her hands are laid in such a way as if they were already ready to rock the baby. By the way, the very name "La Gioconda" also has a double meaning. On the one hand, this is a phonetic variation of the name Giokondo, to which the model herself belonged. On the other hand, this word is consonant with the Italian "giocondo", i.e. happiness, peace. Doesn't this explain the depth of the look, and the gentle half-smile, and the whole atmosphere of the picture, where twilight reigns? Quite possible. This is not just a portrait of a woman. It is a depiction of the very idea of peace and serenity. Maybe that's what she was so dear to the author.
Now the painting Mona Lisa is in the Louvre, refers to the style of "Renaissance". The dimensions of the painting are 77 cm x 53 cm.
The Last Supper is a fresco painted by da Vinci between 1494 and 1498. for the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Gresi, Milan. The fresco depicts a biblical scene of the last evening spent by Jesus of Nazareth surrounded by his twelve disciples.
In this fresco, da Vinci tried to embody all his knowledge of the laws of perspective. The hall in which Jesus and the apostles sit is painted with exceptional accuracy in terms of the proportions and distance of objects. The background of the room, however, is so clearly visible that it is almost a second picture, and not just a background.
Naturally, the center of the whole work is Christ himself, it is precisely in relation to his figure that the rest of the composition of the fresco is planned. The location of the disciples (4 groups of three people) is symmetrical with respect to the center - the Teacher, but not among themselves, which creates a feeling of live movement, but at the same time there is a certain halo of loneliness around Christ. A halo of knowledge that is not yet available to his followers. Being the center of the fresco, a figure around which the whole world seems to revolve, Jesus still remains alone: all other figures are, as it were, separated from him. The whole work is enclosed in strict rectilinear frames, limited by the walls and ceiling of the room, the table at which the participants in the Last Supper sit. If, for clarity, we draw lines along those points that are directly related to the perspective of the fresco, we get an almost perfect geometric grid, the “threads” of which are built at right angles to each other. Such limited precision is not found in any other work of Leonardo.
The Abbey of Tongerlo, Belgium, houses an amazingly accurate copy of The Last Supper, made by the masters of the da Vinci school on his own initiative, because the artist was afraid that the fresco in the Milan monastery would not stand the test of time. It was this copy that the restorers used to recreate the original.
The painting is located in Santa Maria delle Grazie, dimensions 4.6 m x 8.8 m.
Vitruvian Man
"Vitruvian Man" is the common name for a graphic drawing by da Vinci made in 1492. as an illustration to the entries in one of the diaries. The figure depicts a naked male figure. Strictly speaking, these are even two images of the same figure superimposed on each other, but in different poses. A circle and a square are described around the figure. The manuscript containing this drawing is sometimes also referred to as The Canon of Proportions or simply The Proportions of Man. Now this work is stored in one of the museums in Venice, but it is exhibited extremely rarely, since this exhibit is truly unique and valuable both as a work of art and as a subject of research.
Leonardo created his "Vitruvian Man" as an illustration of the geometric studies he carried out on the basis of a treatise by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius (hence the name of da Vinci's work). In the treatise of the philosopher and researcher, the proportions of the human body were taken as the basis of all architectural proportions. Da Vinci, on the other hand, applied the studies of the ancient Roman architect to painting, which once again clearly illustrates the principle of the unity of art and science, put forward by Leonardo. In addition, this work also reflects the master's attempt to correlate man with nature. It is known that da Vinci considered the human body as a reflection of the universe, i.e. was convinced that it functions according to the same laws. The author himself considered the Vitruvian Man as "the cosmography of the microcosm". This drawing also has a deep symbolic meaning. The square and circle in which the body is inscribed do not simply reflect physical, proportional characteristics. The square can be interpreted as the material existence of a person, and the circle represents its spiritual basis, and the points of contact of geometric figures between themselves and with the body inserted into them can be considered as a connection between these two foundations of human existence. For many centuries this drawing was considered as a symbol of the ideal symmetry of the human body and the universe as a whole.
The drawing is made with ink. The size of the picture is 34 cm x 26 cm. Genre: Abstract art. Direction: High Renaissance.
The fate of the manuscripts.
After da Vinci's death in 1519. all the manuscripts of the great scientist and painter were inherited by Leonardo's favorite student, Francesco Melzi. Fortunately, most of the drawings and notes left by da Vinci, made by his famous method of mirror writing, have survived to this day. from right to left. Without a doubt, Leonardo left behind the largest collection of works of the Renaissance, but after his death, the manuscript was not an easy fate. It is even surprising that after so many ups and downs, the manuscripts still survived to this day.
Today, the scientific works of da Vinci are far from the form that the Master gave them, with special care grouping them according to the principles he alone knew. After the death of Malzi, the heir and keeper of the manuscripts, his descendants began to mercilessly squander the legacy of the great scientist that they had inherited, apparently not even knowing its true value. Initially, the manuscripts were simply stored in the attic, later the Malzi family distributed some of the manuscripts and sold individual sheets to collectors by friends for a ridiculous price. Thus, all the records of da Vinci found new owners. Luckily, not a single leaf was lost in the process!
However, the power of evil fate did not end there. The manuscripts came to Ponnpeo Leoni, the court sculptor of the Spanish royal house. No, they were not lost, everything turned out to be much worse: Leoni undertook to “put in order” the numerous notes of da Vinci, based, of course, on his own principles of classification, and finally mixed up all the pages, separating, where possible, texts from sketches, and purely scientific, in his opinion, treatises from notes relating directly to painting. Thus, two collections of manuscripts and drawings appeared. After the death of Leoni, one part of the collection returned to Italy again and until 1796. kept in the library of Milan. Some of the works came to Paris thanks to Napoleon, while the rest was "lost" from Spanish collectors and was discovered only in 1966 in the archives of the National Library in Madrid.
To date, all known da Vinci manuscripts have been collected, and almost all of them are in state museums in Europe, with the exception of one, miraculously still remaining in a private collection. From the middle of the 19th century art researchers are working to restore the original classification of manuscripts.
Conclusion.
According to the last will of da Vinci, sixty beggars accompanied his funeral cortege. The great Renaissance master was buried in the Saint-Hubert chapel, in the vicinity of the Amboise castle.
Da Vinci remained single all his life. Having no wife, no children, not even a home of his own, he devoted himself entirely to scientific research and art. This is how the fate of geniuses develops, that during their lifetime and after death, their works, each of which was invested with a particle of the soul, remain the only "family" of their creator. This happened in the case of Leonardo. However, everything that this man did, who managed to fully cognize and embody the spirit of the Renaissance in his creations, has become the property of all mankind today. Fate itself arranged everything in such a way that, without having a family of its own, da Vinci passed on a huge inheritance to all mankind. And this includes not only unique recordings and amazing works, but also the mystery that surrounds them today. There was not a single century in which they would not try to unravel this or that plan of da Vinci, to look for what was considered lost. Even in our age, when much previously unknown has become everyday, the manuscripts, drawings and paintings of the great Leonardo do not leave indifferent museum visitors, art historians, or even writers. They still serve as an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Is this not the true secret of immortality?
Vitruvian Man
Madonna Benois
Madonna Litta
Key dates in the life of Leonardo da Vinci
1452 - Birth of Leonardo in Anchiano or Vinci. His father has been a notary in Florence for three years. He marries sixteen-year-old Albiera Amadori. 1464/67 - Leonardo's arrival in Florence (the exact date is unknown). Death of Albiera and grandfather.
1468 - Leonardo is still listed on his grandmother's fiscal declaration in Vinci.
1469 - Leonardo is included in the declaration of his father in Florence and becomes an apprentice to Verrocchio. The coming to power of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
1472 - Leonardo is entered into the register of the corporation of artists.
1473 - the first landscape sketches and probably the first version "Annunciation".
Death of Father Leonardo's second wife.
1474 - portrait of Ginevra Benci.
1476 - Denunciation of Leonardo and trial for sodomy. The birth of the first legitimate child of his father, married by his third marriage.
1477 - nothing is known about Leonardo for a year and a half. Botticelli writes "Spring".
1478 - Leonardo paints two Madonnas and an altarpiece left unfinished. The Pazzi conspiracy, the flood, the plague.
1479 - an order for "Saint Jerome", which remained unfinished, and for the "Benois Madonna".
1480 - Leonardo begins the Adoration of the Magi, unfinished and left by him at Benci. Sforza comes to power in Milan. Lorenzo Medici does not want to send Leonardo to Rome.
1481 - All the best artists of Florence are sent by Lorenzo Medici to Rome to paint the Sistine Chapel. Leonardo does not receive this honor.
1482 - Leonardo goes to Milan.
1483 - Leonardo joins the da Predis brothers; they write "Madonna in the Rocks" together. Charles VIII becomes king of France.
1485 - plague in Milan. Leonardo opens his workshop in which the "Madonna Litta" is created.
1486 - model of a lantern for the Milan Cathedral. Savonarola begins to preach in Florence.
1487 - portrait of the "Musician". Leonardo creates the scenery for the Feast of Paradise, his first big dramatization, which will take place three years later.
1488 - painted "Lady with an Ermine", a portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, mistress of the Duke of Milan. Death of Verrocchio.
1489 - Leonardo is engaged in anatomical drawings of the skull and architectural drawings, and also creates decorations for the celebration on the occasion of the marriage in Tortona of Giangaleazzo Sforza and Isabella of Aragon. Construction of the first automaton. Order for the creation of an equestrian statue of the founder of the Sforza dynasty.
1490 - Leonardo's meeting in Pavia with Francesco di Giorgio Martini, the exchange of plans and projects. Works in the field of hydraulics. Salai's arrival. The famous Paradise holiday.
1491 - a holiday and a tournament of "wild people", scenery, costumes, staging. Marriage of the Duke of Milan to Beatrice d'Este. Continuation of work on the "Big Horse". Sketches of storms, battles and a series of profiles.
1492 - Bramante erects a choir in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. In December, Leonardo completes the plaster model of the Big Horse and prepares to move on to the casting stage.
1493 - Katerina, apparently his mother, comes to Leonardo; she lives with Leonardo for about two years before her death. Leonardo paints allegories, engages in anatomical practice and flight research.
1494 - Casting in bronze of the "Big Horse" did not take place due to the threat of war and the need to use metal to make cannons. Charles VIII starts the Italian Wars and occupies Naples. The nephew of the Duke of Sforza dies in Pavia. The deposition of the Medici and their expulsion from Florence. Savonarola takes control of the city.
1495 - decoration of the rooms of the palace of the Duke of Sforza. Repeated trips to Florence. Order for the "Last Supper" in Santa Maria delle Grazie.
1496 - dramatization of "Danae" by Baldassare Taccone. The portrait of the new mistress of the Duke of Milan is a painting now known as La Belle Ferroniera. Friendship with Luca Pacioli and the beginning of lengthy mathematical studies with him. Project of the book "Divine Proportion".
1497 - continuation of work on The Last Supper. New students in Leonardo's workshop. The second production of Danae. Death of Beatrice d'Este.
1498 decoration of the Sala delle Asse. Continued work on "Divine Proportion" in collaboration with Luca Pacioli. Sforza gives Leonardo a vineyard. Treatise on aircraft. After Charles VIII, Louis XII takes the throne of France. Savonarola burned at the stake in Florence.
1499 - the flight of the Duke of Sforza in connection with the approach of the French army. Louis XII enters Milan. Leonardo intends to leave the city.
1500 - Leonardo goes to Mantua to Isabella d'Este, where he paints her portrait. Then, together with Pacioli, he goes to Venice, where he works as a military engineer. Sforza again takes possession of Milan, but soon falls into the hands of the French. The plaster model of the Big Horse is damaged. Leonardo returns to Florence. Filippino Lippi gives him the order to create an altarpiece for the Church of the Annunciation of the Order of the Servites - "St. Anna". Fulfillment of small orders.
1501 - exhibition of cardboard "Saint Anna". Success and new orders. "Madonna with a spindle". Continuation of work in collaboration with Pacioli on a book on geometry. The French occupied Rome.
1502 - friendship with Machiavelli, who introduces Leonardo Cesare Borgia as a military engineer; in the retinue of Borgia, Leonardo makes an aggressive campaign in Italy, makes topographic surveys, draws maps and plans, and creates a mobile bridge. Innovations in the field of cartography.
1503 Leonardo returns to Florence. Having no job, he offers his services to the Turkish Sultan Bayezid II, who, however, does not consider it necessary to answer him. Participation in the siege of Pisa as a military engineer; Leonardo proposes a canal project to change the course of the Arno River. Machiavelli seeks for Leonardo an order for the creation of the fresco "Battle of Anghiari" to decorate the Council Hall of the Signoria Palace in Florence. Apparently, at the same time, work begins on La Gioconda and Leda.
1504 - The Tuscan Republic consults with a board of local artists, including Leonardo, about the location of Michelangelo's "David". Death of Father Leonardo. His brothers do not allow him to his father's inheritance. Continuation of work on the "Battle of Anghiari" and "La Gioconda".
1505 - competition with Michelangelo on painting the hall of the Council of the Florentine Signoria. Leonardo studies the flight of birds. Continuation of work on the Gioconda, a copy of which is made by Rafael. New version of Leda.
1506 - Leonardo is invited by Predis to return to Milan to complete the Madonna of the Rocks. Florence doesn't want to let him go. Leonardo receives permission for three months. Charles d'Amboise, governor of Milan, keeps him until the end of the year. Creation of the second version of the Madonna in the Rocks. Francesco Melzi enters Leonardo's workshop.
1507 - Louis XII enters Milan and returns Leonardo his rights to the vineyard, grants him part of the canal, water rent and a year's pension. Leonardo organizes celebrations on the occasion of the official entry of Louis XII into Milan. Uncle Leonardo dies, and his brothers start a lawsuit to challenge his inheritance rights. In September, Leonardo returns to Florence.
1508 - In Florence, Leonardo puts his manuscripts in order and assists Francesco Giovanni Rustici in creating the sculptures of the Baptistery. Repeated trips from Florence to Milan and back. Painting of two now lost Madonnas. Resumption of anatomical research. In April, Leonardo returns to Milan, where he completes the Madonna in the Rocks. Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel.
1509 - The Venetians are defeated by the French. Leonardo organizes the triumph of Louis XII. Continues work on "Leda", "Saint Anna" and "Saint John the Baptist".
1510 - Leonardo in Pavia continues his anatomical studies. Death of Botticelli.
1511 - death of Charles d'Amboise. Leonardo goes with Melzi to Vapprio d'Adza.
1512 - the son of Lodovico Moro returns to Milan, and Leonardo is forced to leave this city. The Medici return to power in Florence.
1513 - Leonardo arrives in Rome at the invitation of Giuliano de' Medici, brother of the new pope, and settles with his team in the Belvedere. Work on the creation of incendiary mirrors.
1514 - Leonardo's scientific and anatomical studies bring him out of favor with the pope. While on a mission to drain swamps near Rome, Leonardo comes down with malaria.
1515 - Salai leaves Leonardo and returns to Milan.
Death of Louis XII, accession of Francis I to the French throne. Giuliano is going to France to get married. Leonardo becomes the object of slander and intrigue. At the end of the year, he travels with Pope Leo X to peace negotiations with Francis I, with whom he establishes friendly relations. The king invites Leonardo to his place, but the master is still indecisive and returns to Rome. Machiavelli writes the treatise The Emperor.
1516 - Giuliano de' Medici dies. Leonardo remains in Rome without any support and decides to go to France. The king puts at his disposal the castle of Cloux near Amboise, the royal residence.
1517 - With the help of Melzi, Leonardo puts his manuscripts in order, preparing them for publication. He organizes court celebrations in Amboise on various occasions: the dauphin's christening, the anniversary of the French victory at Marignano, the marriage of Lorenzo di Piero di Medici. Leonardo enjoys fame and honor. By order of the king, he designs a new royal palace, draws up a plan for an ideal city, proposes projects for the construction of a canal and drainage of marshes in Sologne.
1518 - Leonardo organizes royal festivals at Amboise on May 3 and 15 and at Cloux on June 19.
August 12 - a magnificent funeral in Saint-Florentin. During the French Revolution, the burial place of Leonardo was liquidated and his remains were lost ...
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From the author's bookChapter II. Leonardo da Vinci. Faust Verancio In the fifteenth century in Italy there lived a wonderful man named Leonardo da Vinci. He was a painter, a sculptor, a musician-composer, an engineer, a mechanic, and a scientist. His beautiful paintings and drawings are proud of in
Leonardo da Vinci was born in the town of Vinci (or near it), located west of Florence, on April 15, 1452. He was the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary and a peasant girl, was brought up in his father's house and, being the son of an educated person, received a thorough primary education.
1467 - at the age of 15, Leonardo went as an apprentice to one of the leading masters of the Early Renaissance in Florence, Andrea del Verrocchio; 1472 - joined the guild of artists, studied the basics of drawing and other necessary disciplines; 1476 - so he worked in the workshop of Verrocchio, apparently in collaboration with the master himself.
By 1480, Leonardo already had large orders, but after 2 years he moved to Milan. In a letter to the ruler of Milan, Lodovico Sforza, he presented himself as an engineer, military expert and artist. The years he spent in Milan were filled with various pursuits. Leonardo da Vinci painted several paintings and the famous fresco "The Last Supper" and began to diligently and seriously keep his notes. The Leonardo whom we recognize from his notes is an architect-designer (the creator of innovative plans that were never carried out), an anatomist, a hydraulician, an inventor of mechanisms, a designer of scenery for court performances, a writer of riddles, rebuses and fables for the entertainment of the court, musician and art theorist.
1499 - after the expulsion of Lodovico Sforza from Milan by the French, Leonardo leaves for Venice, visits Mantua along the way, where he participates in the construction of defensive structures, then returns to Florence. In those days, he was so fascinated by mathematics that he did not want to think about picking up a brush. For 12 years, Leonardo constantly moved from city to city, working for the famous in Romagna, designing defensive structures (never built) for Piombino.
In Florence he enters into a rivalry with Michelangelo; this rivalry culminated in the huge battle compositions that the two artists painted for the Palazzo della Signoria (also Palazzo Vecchio). Then Leonardo conceived a second equestrian monument, which, like the first, was never created. Throughout all these years, he continues to fill out his notebooks. They reflect his ideas relating to a variety of subjects. This is the theory and practice of painting, anatomy, mathematics and even the flight of birds. 1513 - as in 1499, his patrons are expelled from Milan ...
Leonardo leaves for Rome, where he spends 3 years under the auspices of the Medici. Depressed and distressed by the lack of material for anatomical research, he engages in experiments that lead nowhere.
The kings of France, first Louis XII, then Francis I, admired the works of the Italian Renaissance, especially Leonardo's The Last Supper. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that in 1516 Francis I, well aware of the versatile talents of Leonardo, invites him to the court, which was then located in the Amboise castle in the Loire Valley. As the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini wrote, despite the fact that the Florentine worked on hydraulic projects and plans for a new royal palace, his main occupation is the honorary position of court sage and adviser.
Fascinated by the idea of creating an aircraft, the Florentine initially developed the simplest apparatus (Dedalus and Icarus) based on wings. His new idea is an airplane with full control. But it was not possible to bring the idea to life due to the lack of a motor. Also, the famous idea of the scientist is a device with vertical takeoff and landing.
Studying the laws of fluids and hydraulics in general, Leonardo made a great contribution to the theory of locks, sewer ports, testing ideas in practice.
Famous paintings by Leonardo - "Gioconda", "Last Supper", "Madonna with an Ermine", and many others. Leonardo was demanding and precise in everything he did. Even before painting, he insisted on a complete study of the object before starting.
Leonardo's manuscripts are priceless. They were fully published only in the XIX-XX centuries. In his notes, Leonardo da Vinci noted not just reflections, but supplemented them with drawings, drawings, and descriptions.
Leonardo da Vinci was talented in many areas, he made a significant contribution to the history of architecture, art, and physics.
Leonardo da Vinci died in Amboise on May 2, 1519; his paintings by this time were usually dispersed in private collections, and the notes lay in various collections, almost in complete oblivion, for several more centuries.
Secrets of Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci encrypted a lot so that his ideas would be revealed gradually, as humanity could “ripen” to them. He wrote with his left hand and in very small letters, from right to left, so that the text looked as if in a mirror image. He spoke in riddles, made metaphorical prophecies, and liked to compose puzzles. Leonardo da Vinci did not sign his works, but they have identification marks. For example, if you take a closer look at the paintings, you can find a symbolic bird taking off. Apparently, there are a lot of such signs, therefore, one or another of his hidden "brainchildren" are unexpectedly found on famous canvases, after centuries. So, for example, it was with the Benois Madonna, which for a long time, as a home icon, itinerant actors carried with them.
Leonard discovered the scattering principle (or sfumato). The objects on his canvases have no clear boundaries: everything, as in life, is blurry, penetrates one into another, which means it breathes, lives, awakens fantasy. To master this principle, he advised to practice: look at the stains on the walls that appear from dampness, ashes, clouds or dirt. He deliberately smoked the room where he worked in order to look for images in clubs.
Thanks to the sfumato effect, a flickering smile of the Gioconda appeared: depending on the focus of the gaze, it seems to the viewer that the Gioconda smiles either gently, or, as it were, ominously. The second miracle of the "Mona Lisa" is that she is "alive". Over the centuries, her smile changes, the corners of her lips rise higher. In the same way, the Master mixed the knowledge of various sciences, because his inventions find more and more applications over time. From the treatise on light and shadow come the beginnings of the sciences of penetrating power, oscillatory motion, and the propagation of waves. All of his 120 books have been distributed around the world and are gradually being revealed to mankind.
Leonardo da Vinci preferred the method of analogy to all others. Approximation of analogy is an advantage over the accuracy of a syllogism, when a third inevitably follows from two conclusions. But the more bizarre the analogy, the further the conclusions from it extend. Take, for example, the famous illustration of da Vinci, which proves the proportionality of the human body. A human figure with outstretched arms and spread legs fits into a circle, and with closed legs and raised arms - into a square. This "mill" gave impetus to various conclusions. Leonardo was the only one who created designs for churches in which the altar is placed in the middle (symbolizing the human navel), and the worshipers are evenly around. This church plan in the form of an octahedron served as another invention of genius - a ball bearing.
The Florentine liked to use contraposto, which creates the illusion of movement. Everyone who saw his sculpture of a giant horse in Corte Vecchio involuntarily changed their gait to a more relaxed one.
Leonardo was never in a hurry to finish a work, because unfinishedness is an essential quality of life. Finish means kill! The slowness of the Florentine was the talk of the town, he could make two or three strokes and retire for many days from the city, for example, to improve the valleys of Lombardy or was engaged in the creation of an apparatus for walking on water. Almost every one of his significant works is "work in progress". The master had a special composition, with the help of which he seemed to specially make “windows of incompleteness” on the finished painting. Apparently, in this way he left a place where life itself could intervene and correct something ...
He masterfully played the lyre. When the case of Leonardo was heard in the court of Milan, he appeared there precisely as a musician, and not as an artist or inventor.
There is a version that Leonardo da Vinci was a homosexual. When the artist was studying in Verrocchio's workshop, he was accused of harassing a boy who posed for him. The court acquitted him.
According to one version, Gioconda smiles from the realization of her secret for all pregnancy.
According to another, Mona Lisa is entertained by musicians and clowns while she posed for the artist.
There is another assumption, according to which, "Mona Lisa" is a self-portrait of Leonardo.
Leonardo da Vinci, apparently, did not leave a single self-portrait that could be unambiguously attributed to him. Experts doubt that Leonardo's famous sanguine self-portrait (traditionally dated 1512-1515), showing him in his old age, is such. It is believed that this is probably only a study of the head of the apostle for the "Last Supper". Doubts that this is a self-portrait of the artist began to be expressed in the 19th century, the last of which was recently expressed by one of the largest experts on Leonardo da Vinci, Professor Pietro Marani.
Scientists at the University of Amsterdam and American researchers, having studied the mysterious smile of Mona Lisa using a new computer program, unraveled its composition: according to them, it contains 83 percent happiness, 9 percent neglect, 6 percent fear and 2 percent anger.
Leonardo loved water: he developed instructions for scuba diving, he invented and described a device for scuba diving, a breathing apparatus for scuba diving. All the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci formed the basis of modern underwater equipment.
Leonardo was the first painter to dissect corpses in order to understand the location and structure of muscles.
Observations of the Moon in the phase of the growing crescent led the researcher to one of the important scientific discoveries - Leonardo da Vinci established that sunlight is reflected from our planet and returns to the moon in the form of secondary illumination.
The Florentine was ambidexterous - he was equally good with his right and left hands. He suffered from dyslexia (impaired reading ability) - this ailment, called "word blindness", is associated with reduced brain activity in a certain area of \u200b\u200bthe left hemisphere. A well-known fact, Leonardo wrote in a mirror way.
Relatively recently, the Louvre spent 5.5 million dollars to outweigh the most famous masterpiece of the artist "La Gioconda" from the general room to a specially equipped room for it. Two-thirds of the State Hall, which occupies a total area of 840 sq. m. The huge room was rebuilt as a gallery, on the far wall of which now hangs the famous creation of the great Leonardo. The reconstruction, which was carried out according to the project of the Peruvian architect Lorenzo Piqueras, lasted about 4 years. The decision to move the Mona Lisa to a separate room was made by the administration of the Louvre due to the fact that in the same place, surrounded by other paintings by Italian masters, this masterpiece was lost, and the public was forced to queue to see the famous painting.
2003, August - the canvas of the great Leonardo worth $ 50 million "Madonna with a spindle" was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in Scotland. The masterpiece was stolen from the home of one of Scotland's wealthiest landowners, the Duke of Buccleuch.
It is believed that Leonardo was a vegetarian (Andrea Corsali, in a letter to Giuliano di Lorenzo Medici, compares him with a Hindu who did not eat meat). The phrase often attributed to Leonardo “If a person strives for freedom, why does he keep birds and animals in cages? .. man is truly the king of animals, because he cruelly exterminates them. We live by killing others. We are walking graveyards! Even at an early age I refused meat” is taken from the English translation of Dmitry Merezhkovsky’s novel “The Resurrected Gods. Leonardo da Vinci".
Leonardo da Vinci designed the submarine, the propeller, the tank, the loom, the ball bearing, and the flying machines.
Building canals, Leonardo made an observation that later entered geology under his name as a theoretical principle for recognizing the time of formation of the earth's layers. He came to the conclusion that our planet is much older than indicated in the Bible.
Among da Vinci's hobbies were even cooking and serving art. In Milan for thirteen years he was the manager of court feasts. He invented several culinary devices that facilitate the work of cooks. The original dish "from Leonardo" - thinly sliced stew, with vegetables laid on top - was very popular at court feasts.
In the books of Terry Pratchett there is a character whose name is Leonard, the prototype of which was Leonardo da Vinci. Pratchett's Leonard writes from right to left, invents various machines, engages in alchemy, paints pictures (the most famous is the portrait of Mona Ogg)
A considerable number of Leonardo's manuscripts were first published by the curator of the Ambrosian Library, Carlo Amoretti.
Italian scientists have made a statement about the sensational discovery. According to them, an early self-portrait of Leonardo was discovered. The discovery belongs to the journalist Piero Angela.
(Leonardo da Vinci) (1452-1519) - the greatest figure, the multifaceted genius of the Renaissance, the founder of the High Renaissance. Known as an artist, scientist, engineer, inventor.
Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in the town of Anchiano near the town of Vinci, located near Florence. His father was Piero da Vinci, a notary who came from a prominent family in the city of Vinci. According to one version, the mother was a peasant woman, according to another - the owner of the tavern, known as Katerina. At about the age of 4.5 years, Leonardo was taken to his father's house, and in the documents of that time he is called the illegitimate son of Piero. In 1469 he entered the workshop of the famous artist, sculptor and jeweler Andrea del Verrocchio ( 1435/36–1488). Here Leonardo went the whole way of apprenticeship: from rubbing paints to working as an apprentice. According to contemporaries, he painted the left figure of an angel in a painting by Verrocchio Baptism(c. 1476, Uffizi Gallery, Florence), which immediately attracted attention. The naturalness of movement, the smoothness of lines, the softness of chiaroscuro - distinguishes the figure of an angel from the more rigid writing of Verrocchio. Leonardo lived in the house of the master and after in 1472 he was admitted to the Guild of St. Luke, the guild of painters.
One of the few dated drawings by Leonardo was created in August 1473. View of the Arno Valley from a height was made with a pen with quick strokes, transmitting vibrations of light, air, which indicates that the drawing was made from nature (Uffizi Gallery, Florence).
The first painting attributed to Leonardo, although its authorship is disputed by many experts, is Annunciation(c. 1472, Uffizi Gallery, Florence). Unfortunately, the unknown author made later corrections, which significantly worsened the quality of the work.
Portrait of Ginevra de Benci(1473-1474, National Gallery, Washington) is permeated with a melancholy mood. Part of the picture below is cut off: probably, the hands of the model were depicted there. The contours of the figure are softened with the help of the sfumato effect, created before Leonardo, but it was he who became the genius of this technique. Sfumato (it. sfumato - foggy, smoky) - a technique developed in the Renaissance in painting and graphics, which allows you to convey the softness of modeling, the elusiveness of object outlines, the feeling of the air environment.
Madonna with a flower (Madonna Benois) (Madonna with child) 1478 - 1480 Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia |
Between 1476 and 1478 Leonardo opens his workshop. To this period belongs Madonna with a flower, so-called Madonna Benois(c. 1478, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg). The smiling Madonna addresses the baby Jesus sitting on her lap, the movements of the figures are natural and plastic. In this picture, there is a characteristic interest in the art of Leonardo to show the inner world.
An unfinished painting also belongs to the early works. Adoration of the Magi(1481-1482, Uffizi Gallery, Florence). The central place is occupied by a group of the Madonna and Child and the Magi placed in the foreground.
In 1482, Leonardo left for Milan, the richest city of that time, under the patronage of Lodovico Sforza (1452–1508), who supported the army, spent huge amounts of money on lavish festivities and the purchase of works of art. Introducing himself to his future patron, Leonardo speaks of himself as a musician, military expert, inventor of weapons, war chariots, machines, and only then speaks of himself as an artist. Leonardo lived in Milan until 1498, and this period of his life was the most fruitful.
The first commission received by Leonardo was the creation of an equestrian statue in honor of Francesco Sforza (1401–1466), father of Lodovico Sforza. Working on it for 16 years, Leonardo created many drawings, as well as an eight-meter clay model. In an effort to surpass all existing equestrian statues, Leonardo wanted to make a grandiose sculpture in size, to show a rearing horse. But faced with technical difficulties, Leonardo changed the idea and decided to depict a walking horse. In November 1493 model Horse without a rider was put on public display, and it was this event that made Leonardo da Vinci famous. It took about 90 tons of bronze to cast the sculpture. The metal collection that had begun was interrupted, and the equestrian statue was never cast. In 1499, Milan was captured by the French, who used the sculpture as a target. After a while, it collapsed. Horse- a grandiose, but never completed project - one of the significant works of monumental plastic art of the 16th century. and, according to Vasari, "those who have seen the huge clay model ... claim that they have never seen a work more beautiful and majestic," called the monument "the great colossus."
At the court of Sforza, Leonardo also worked as a decorator for many festivities, creating hitherto unseen scenery and mechanisms, and made costumes for allegorical figures.
unfinished canvas Saint Jerome(1481, Vatican Museum, Rome) shows the saint at the moment of repentance in a complex turn with a lion at his feet. The picture was painted in black and white paints. But after coating it with varnish in the 19th century. the colors turned to olive and golden.
Madonna in the rocks(1483-1484, Louvre, Paris) - the famous painting by Leonardo, written by him in Milan. The image of the Madonna, baby Jesus, little John the Baptist and an angel in a landscape is a new motif in Italian painting of that time. In the opening of the rock, a landscape is visible, which has been given sublimely ideal features, and in which the achievements of linear and aerial perspective are shown. Although the cave is dimly lit, the picture is not dark, faces and figures gently emerge from the shadows. The thinnest chiaroscuro (sfumato) creates the impression of dim diffused light, models faces and hands. Leonardo connects the figures not only with a common mood, but also with the unity of space.
 LADY WITH ERMIN. 1485–1490. Czartoryski Museum |
lady with ermine(1484, Czartoryski Museum, Krakow) - one of the first works of Leonardo as a court portrait painter. The painting depicts the mistress of Lodovik Cecilia Gallerani with the emblem of the Sforza family, an ermine. The complex turn of the head and the exquisite bend of the lady's hand, the curved pose of the animal - everything speaks of the authorship of Leonardo. The background was repainted by another artist.
Portrait of a musician(1484, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan). Only the face of the young man is completed, the rest of the picture is not spelled out. The type of face is close to the faces of Leonardo's angels, only executed more courageously.
Another unique work was created by Leonardo in one of the halls of the Sforza Palace, which is called the Donkey. On the vaults and walls of this hall, he painted willow crowns, whose branches are intricately intertwined, tied with decorative ropes. Subsequently, part of the paint layer crumbled, but a significant part was preserved and restored.
In 1495 Leonardo began work on last supper(area 4.5 × 8.6 m). The fresco is located on the wall of the refectory of the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, at a height of 3 m from the floor and occupies the entire end wall of the room. Leonardo oriented the perspective of the fresco to the viewer, thus it organically entered the interior of the refectory: the perspective reduction of the side walls depicted in the fresco continues the real space of the refectory. Thirteen people are seated at a table parallel to the wall. In the center is Jesus Christ, to the left and to the right of him are his disciples. The dramatic moment of exposure and condemnation of betrayal is shown, the moment when Christ just uttered the words: “One of you will betray Me”, and different emotional reactions of the apostles to these words. The composition is built on a strictly verified mathematical calculation: in the center is Christ, depicted against the background of the middle, largest opening of the back wall, the vanishing point of the perspective coincides with his head. The twelve apostles are divided into four groups of three figures each. Each is given a vivid characteristic by expressive gestures and movements. The main task was to show Judas, to separate him from the rest of the apostles. By placing him on the same line of the table as all the apostles, Leonardo psychologically separated him by loneliness. Creation last supper became a notable event in the artistic life of Italy at that time. As a true innovator and experimenter, Leonardo abandoned the fresco technique. He covered the wall with a special composition of resin and mastic, and painted in tempera. These experiments led to the greatest tragedy: the refectory, which was hastily repaired by order of Sforza, the pictorial innovations of Leonardo, the lowland in which the refectory was located - all this served a sad service to safety last supper. The paint began to peel off, as already mentioned by Vasari in 1556. Secret supper it was repeatedly restored in the 17th and 18th centuries, but the restorations were unqualified (the paint layers were simply reapplied). By the middle of the 20th century, when The Last Supper came into a deplorable state, began scientific restoration: first, the entire paint layer was fixed, then later layers were removed, and Leonardo's tempera painting was opened. And although the work was badly damaged, these restoration works made it possible to say that this Renaissance masterpiece was saved. Working on the fresco for three years, Leonardo created the greatest creation of the Renaissance.
After the fall of Sforza's power in 1499, Leonardo went to Florence, stopping by Mantua and Venice on the way. In Mantua he creates cardboard with Portrait of Isabella d "Este(1500, Louvre, Paris), executed in black crayon, charcoal and pastel.
In the spring of 1500, Leonardo arrived in Florence, where he soon received an order to paint an altar painting in the monastery of the Annunciation. The order was never completed, but one of the options is the so-called. Burlington House Cardboard(1499, National Gallery, London).
One of the significant commissions received by Leonardo in 1502 for the decoration of the wall of the Council Hall of the Signoria in Florence was Battle of Anghiari(not saved). Another wall for decoration was given to Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), who painted a painting there. Battle of Kashin. Sketches by Leonardo, now lost, showed the panorama of the battle, in the center of which the battle for the banner took place. Cardboards by Leonardo and Michelangelo, exhibited in 1505, were a huge success. As in the case with last supper, Leonardo experimented with paints, as a result of which the paint layer gradually crumbled. But preparatory drawings, copies, have survived, which partly give an idea of the scale of this work. In particular, a drawing by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) has been preserved, which shows the central scene of the composition (c. 1615, Louvre, Paris).
For the first time in the history of battle painting, Leonardo showed the drama and fury of the battle.
Mona Lisa- the most famous work of Leonardo da Vinci (1503-1506, Louvre, Paris). Mona Lisa (short for Madonna Lisa) was the third wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo. Now the picture is slightly changed: columns were originally drawn on the left and right, now cut off. Small in size, the picture makes a monumental impression: Mona Lisa is shown against the backdrop of a landscape, where the depth of space, the air haze are conveyed with the greatest perfection. Leonardo's famous sfumato technique is brought here to unprecedented heights: the thinnest, as if melting, haze of chiaroscuro, enveloping the figure, softens the contours and shadows. There is something elusive, bewitching and attractive in a slight smile, in the liveliness of facial expression, in the stately calmness of the pose, in the stillness of the smooth lines of the hands. |
In 1506 Leonardo received an invitation to Milan from Louis XII of France (1462-1515). Having given Leonardo complete freedom of action, regularly paying him, the new patrons did not demand certain jobs from him. Leonardo is fond of scientific research, sometimes turning to painting. Then the second version was written Madonnas in the rocks(1506-1508, British National Gallery, London).
 MADONNA WITH CHILD AND ST. ANNO. OK. 1510. Louvre, Paris |
St. Anne with Mary and the Christ Child(1500-1510, Louvre, Paris) - one of the themes of Leonardo's work, to which he repeatedly addressed. The last development of this theme remained unfinished.
In 1513, Leonardo went to Rome, to the Vatican, to the court of Pope Leo X (1513–1521), but soon lost the pope's favor. He studies plants in the botanical garden, draws up plans for draining the Pontine Marshes, writes notes for a treatise on the structure of the human voice. At this time, he created the only self-portrait(1514, Reale Library, Turin), executed in sanguine, showing a gray-haired old man with a long beard and a fixed gaze.
Leonardo's last painting was also painted in Rome - Saint John the Baptist(1515, Louvre, Paris). St. John is shown pampered with a seductive smile and feminine gestures.
Again, Leonardo receives an offer from the French king, this time from Francis I (1494-1547), the successor of Louis XII: to move to France, to an estate near the royal castle of Amboise. In 1516 or 1517, Leonardo arrives in France, where he is assigned apartments in the Cloux estate. Surrounded by the respectful admiration of the king, he receives the title of "The first artist, engineer and architect of the king." Leonardo, despite his age and illness, is engaged in drawing canals in the Loire Valley, takes part in the preparation of court festivities.
Leonardo da Vinci died on May 2, 1519, bequeathing his drawings and papers to Francesco Melzi, a student who kept them all his life. But after his death, all countless papers were distributed all over the world, some were lost, some are stored in different cities, in museums around the world.
A scientist by vocation, Leonardo even now impresses with the breadth and diversity of his scientific interests. His research in the field of aircraft design is unique. He studied the flight, planning of birds, the structure of their wings, and created the so-called. ornithopter, an aircraft with flapping wings, and never realized. He created a pyramidal parachute, a model of a spiral propeller (a variant of the modern propeller). Observing nature, he became an expert in the field of botany: he was the first to describe the laws of phyllotaxy (the laws governing the arrangement of leaves on a stem), heliotropism and geotropism (the laws of the influence of the sun and gravity on plants), discovered a way to determine the age of trees by annual rings. He was an expert in the field of anatomy: he was the first to describe the valve of the right ventricle of the heart, demonstrated anatomy, etc. He created a system of drawings that still help students understand the structure of the human body: he showed an object in four views to examine it from all sides, created an image system organs and bodies in cross section. His research in the field of geology is interesting: he gave descriptions of sedimentary rocks, explanations of marine deposits in the mountains of Italy. As an optical scientist, he knew that visual images on the cornea of the eye are projected upside down. He was probably the first to use a camera obscura for sketching landscapes (from Latin camera - room, obscurus - dark) - a closed box with a small hole in one of the walls; rays of light are reflected on the frosted glass on the other side of the box and create an inverted color image, used by landscape painters of the 18th century. for accurate reproduction of views). In the drawings of Leonardo there is a project for an instrument for measuring the intensity of light, a photometer, brought to life only three centuries later. He designed canals, locks, dams. Among his ideas can be seen: light shoes for walking on water, a life buoy, webbed gloves for swimming, an underwater movement device similar to a modern spacesuit, machines for the production of rope, grinders and much more. Talking to mathematician Luca Pacioli, who wrote the textbook On Divine Proportion, Leonardo became interested in this science and created illustrations for this textbook.
Leonardo also acted as an architect, but none of his projects was ever brought to life. He participated in the competition for the design of the central dome of the Milan Cathedral, designed the mausoleum for members of the royal family in the Egyptian style, a project he proposed to the Turkish Sultan to build a huge bridge across the Bosphorus, under which ships could pass.
A large number of Leonardo's drawings remained, made with sanguine, colored crayons, pastels (it is Leonardo who is credited with the invention of pastels), silver pencil, and chalk.
In Milan, Leonardo begins to write Treatise on painting, work on which continued throughout his life, but was never completed. In this multi-volume reference book, Leonardo wrote about how to recreate the world around him on the canvas, about linear and aerial perspective, proportions, anatomy, geometry, mechanics, optics, about the interaction of colors, reflexes.
 John the Baptist. 1513-16 |
 Madonna Litta 1478-1482 Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia |
 Leda with a swan 1508 - 1515 Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy |
The life and work of Leonardo da Vinci left a colossal mark not only in art, but also in science and technology. Painter, sculptor, architect - he was a naturalist, mechanic, engineer, mathematician, made many discoveries for future generations. It was the greatest personality of the Renaissance.
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"Vitruvian Man"- the common name for a graphic drawing by da Vinci, made in 1492. as an illustration to the entries in one of the diaries. The figure depicts a naked male figure. Strictly speaking, these are even two images of the same figure superimposed on each other, but in different poses. A circle and a square are described around the figure. The manuscript containing this drawing is sometimes also referred to as The Canon of Proportions or simply The Proportions of Man. Now this work is stored in one of the museums in Venice, but it is exhibited extremely rarely, since this exhibit is truly unique and valuable both as a work of art and as a subject of research.
Leonardo created his "Vitruvian Man" as an illustration of the geometric studies he carried out on the basis of a treatise by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius (hence the name of da Vinci's work). In the treatise of the philosopher and researcher, the proportions of the human body were taken as the basis of all architectural proportions. Da Vinci, on the other hand, applied the studies of the ancient Roman architect to painting, which once again clearly illustrates the principle of the unity of art and science, put forward by Leonardo. In addition, this work also reflects the master's attempt to correlate man with nature. It is known that da Vinci considered the human body as a reflection of the universe, i.e. was convinced that it functions according to the same laws. The author himself considered the Vitruvian Man as "the cosmography of the microcosm". This drawing also has a deep symbolic meaning. The square and circle in which the body is inscribed do not simply reflect physical, proportional characteristics. The square can be interpreted as the material existence of a person, and the circle represents its spiritual basis, and the points of contact of geometric figures between themselves and with the body inserted into them can be considered as a connection between these two foundations of human existence. For many centuries this drawing was considered as a symbol of the ideal symmetry of the human body and the universe as a whole.
