Leonardo da Vinci: The Embodiment of a Renaissance Man

Before I go on to prove the title of this report, let me give you the definition of Renaissance man: n. a person who has wide interests and is expert in several areas. Additionally, Leonardo lived during the renaissance!

Ah, Perfect!

I have always held Leonardo da Vinci in high regard, and not necessarily for the fame of his paintings. Because of his nature and according to my beliefs and my definition of an artist, this man so perfectly fits! He was not only a man with one artistic talent, but also a man with an artistic mind, who lived an artistic life. Whose artistry led to innovation, the acquisition of knowledge, and to the understanding of the human condition.

To give Leonardo his full due, one must realize the state of the world around him. Born April 15th, 1452, in Vinci, Italy he entered a world where the bubonic plague was a constant threat. Further, the grip of power belonged to the Vatican. When someone says "Inquisition," for instance, one thinks of Spain in 1481. We forget that Rome held Italy and its denizens in her fist for nearly 600 years.

Leonardo was born into a family of Cathars (a sect of Gnostics) in Italy, whose belief system was deemed heretical by the ruling church. He and his people were also open to science, deemed heretical. Also being a vegetarian, as he was, went against the dogma of the church. Leonardo lived in constant danger of discovery, was even arrested on a couple of occasions on charges of sodomy. Only though lack of evidence was he allowed freedom from the death sentence these charges would have normally caused. AND he was left-handed, enough in those times to, at the very least, warrant torture to expel the "demons" that superstitions dictated inflicted left-handed persons!

You may have noticed the picture of Leonardo's reflected name (image 1); this is one of the talents Leonardo may have used to keep private, things private . . . writing backward. He also "became" ambidextrous, in order to use his right hand when in the presence of those who might do harm!

A handsome man with considerable charm and a knack for improvisation endeared him to the powerful persons that were the greatest threat to his life. So it may be implied that Leonardo was an adept actor as well! Just imagine!

His father was a respected member of their community, his mother a peasant woman. He was raised, we know, from the age of 5 by his father and step-mother. Between them, his biological parents had 17 more children, making him the half-brother of many! Upon the death of his parents, there was no inheritance for Leonardo as the accumulated wealth was split among his half-siblings. He did however manage to become the sole-heir to one of his uncles . . . at (most likely) to the consternation of his many brothers and sisters.

Even as a small boy, Leonardo demonstrated an artistic ability that rivaled most! As he grew, his intellect grew, as did his obvious artistic ability. He was educated in Florence, and then apprenticed under Andrea del Verrocchio a well revered master in his own right, circa 1466 as a garzone or studio boy.

By 1478, at the age of 26, Leonardo hung his own shingle as an independent master. As a young master among his paintings are:

The Adoration of the Magi (image 2), unfinished, it had been ordered in 1481 for the Monastery of San Donato a Scopeto, Florence. It is yellow ochre and brown ink on panel. I would assume that Leonardo would have added more color to this had he finished it . . . as it is though, I feel it is a fabulous example of monochromatic color harmony.

Benois Madonna (c. 1478) is oil on canvas and the portrait Ginerva de' Benci (c. 1474) is oil on wood. In the instances of Madonna with a Flower (image 4) and Ginevra Benci (image 3), it looks as though Leonardo has used split- complimentary for the color harmony. I see blues with yellows and oranges. In an effort to better capture the truer essence of his subjects, Leonardo was an avid "watcher:"

Leonardo the young painter: "O painters, when you go into the fields give your attention to the various objects and look carefully in turn first at one thing, and then at another. A painter who has acquired a knowledge of the nature of the sinews, muscles and tendons will know exactly which of the sinews are the cause of any movement of the limbs and which muscle is the cause of the sinews contracting. Science is full of error if it has not been born from experience."

By the time Leonardo painted The Last Supper (image 5), he had well developed his techniques of sfumato and chiaroscuro and had revolutionized the way painting was done. Sfumato, Leonardo's own invention, is characterized by subtle, almost infinitesimal transitions between color areas, creating a delicately atmospheric haze or smoky effect. Chiaroscuro, of which Leonardo was an early master, is the technique of modeling and defining forms through contrast of light and shadow.

And, although I was a very disappointed young woman when I visited the Louvre and had to squeeze myself through the throng of onlookers, only to find I was looking through a glass "safe," at this most famous of Leonardo's paintings, The Mona Lisa, I could not leave her out . . . She was after all, Leonardo's most beloved.

He worked and reworked this portrait from 1503 through 1505, carrying it with him after it was finished on his many travels and then it didn't part from him until after his death.

Moreover, within The Mona Lisa, Leonardo has presented his style and techniques at their most supreme. Everyone knows the suppositions made about this painting . . . the intrigue of her smile. The mystery of who she was, but I'll not delve into that here, as it is a report in and of itself.

Per Leonardo's own words: ". . . through variations in the air we are made aware of the different distances of various buildings . . . therefore make the first building . . . its own color; the next most distant make more blue . . . at another distance bluer yet and that which is five times more distant make five times more blue;" We gain insight into the choices of color we see in The Mona Lisa.

Did I mention that Leonardo was an avid watcher? Yes, observer is better, and he would take great pains to document what he saw: As witnessed in his sketches of Vitruvian Man, Study on the proportions of head and eyes, Heart and its Blood Vessels Drawing, Studies of human skull, Studies of embryos, and Study of horses.

Leonardo had no formal training as a mathematician or in Latin, which led the foremost scientists of his time to rebuff his ventures into the area a science. However, his need to understand the complexities of life compelled him forward. Though it was illegal at the time, Leonardo would frequently perform autopsies, at first with a special writ from the church then once revoked, he continued still. He had occasion to study the dying, particularly prisoners and those hung. It was through his great powers of observation that he made accurate recordings of the circulation of blood, and the movement of the eye.

Though, do to his wide and varied interests, he never applied what he had dreamt into practical terms. Had he done so, or at least had he managed to publish his collection of extensive notes, the world may well have progressed at a more rapid pace. What of his notes weren't lost or destroyed were in his "mirror script," so to those of his century and those of the next, indecipherable thereby leaving the bulk of his brilliant mind untapped.

He further made discoveries in meteorology and geology, learned the effect of the moon on the tides. He understood then, our contemporary conceptions of continent formation. And he deduced the nature of fossil shells!

He was among the first to organize the science of hydraulics and is most likely the inventor of the hydrometer.

In addition to the talents I've highlighted here, Leonardo was also an architect, a city planner, a costume designer, a sculptor, an alchemist, a humanitarian, and an animal lover.

There are many more activities ascribed to Leonardo, though most aren't yet proven and merely lend to or detract from (depending upon your personal views) the extraordinary man that he was. Though, for me personally, I have no doubt . . .

He was a man of many talents. Through the use of said talents he became expert in many areas. So yes, verily, Leonardo is the embodiment of a Renaissance man!