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DA VINCI, LEONARDO.   Term Paper ID:17438 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Brief history. Stresses "Mona Lisa" & "Virgin of the Rocks;" style, influences, scientific & individualist approaches, myth & ambiguities.... More...

8 Pages / 1800 Words 5 sources, 25 Citations, MLA Format $32.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Brief history. Stresses "Mona Lisa" & "Virgin of the Rocks;" style, influences, scientific & individualist approaches, myth & ambiguities. Paper Introduction: The purpose of this research is to examine Leonardo de Vinci through a study of his history, style, influences and scientific and individualistic approaches, stressing two of his famous art works, the "Mona Lisa" and the "Virgin of the Rocks." Included in this will be a look at the myths and ambiguities surrounding the man and his legacy. Born near Vinci, Italy, on April 15, 1452, Leonardo lived through the height of the Renaissance period. Trained in Florence in the shop of artist Andrea Verrocchio, he went on to develop an awe-inspiring range of skills, which, based on his notebooks left behind, have only served to confirm that he was truly a "universal genius" (Brizio and Brugnoli 13). Covering the fields of nature, the natural sciences, painting, inventions, architecture, machinery and weaponry and fortification designs, Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. He devoted long hours tothe study of nature, even on holy days, which was heavily criticized. NewYork: Mcgraw-Hill Book Company, 198 , 13-46.Horn, Miriam. "The Mysterious Genius of Leonardo." U.S. In 1516, with thedeath of de Medici, he moved back to France at the request of King FrancisI. Art Historian, W. This commercial adoration also has interfered in the cleaning of thepainting. Leonardo the Artist. "He was actually engaged in competition with God" (Horn72; Brizio and Brugnoli 16). He did not see painting as arepetition of the forces of nature, but considered man himself as a forceof nature continuing its work and creation. It is through his paintings, however, that most know the name"Leonardo da Vinci." He wrote: "I can do in painting whatever may bedone, as well as any other, be he who he may" (Brizio and Brugnoli 18).Italian Renaissance art enjoyed a prestige that cannot be matched by anyother artistic epoch, because, for a favored moment, not only were therevery great artists but they also represented the spearhead of the cultureof their day. However, he wasextremely interested in the fundamental structural elements such as thearch and the dome. Leonardo's first drawing was dated August 5, 1478. His plans for a parachute remained unknownuntil the late 18OO's, not quite a century after the first air-to-groundjump was made. "Yet no solution was ever adequate, for hewould return later to some similar device to accomplish the same task byusing different parts or a different assembly of parts" (Brizio andBrugnoli 26). "After Five Centuries, a Devoted Modeler Gives Shapeto Genius." Smithsonian August 1989: 92-97.Danto, Ginger. Works CitedBrizio, Anna Maria and Brugnoli, Maria Vittoria. From there he wascommissioned to do several paintings before moving on to Milan where heoffered his services to the ruler of the city, Ludovico il Moro, as anengineer, architect, sculptor and painter. Florentine in Amboise. His intention was always the same, to see beneath the surface andunderstand the way things work. Leonardo's sensitivity to nature foresaw a time when "the greatforests will be deprived of their trees" and when men would "deal outdeath, affliction, labors terrors, and banishment to every living thing"(Horn 72; Brizio and Brugnoli 14). This is the "Mona Lisa," the portrait of Francesco del Giocondo'swife. Many consider that itis he who provoked the separation of the two fields, "art" and "science." Leonardo expressed himself mainly by images and figures which beganwith an investigation of visual data. She had been called the most famous work of art that ever existed(Danto 148). He also vascommissioned to paint a fresco of the "Battle of Anghiari," but the workwas interrupted because of his rivalry with the artist, Michelangelo. Whatever the real story, the painting bares the stamp of theFlorentine style, though its image is linked with the theme of theConception, which was the object of a special cult in Milan. It no longer looks the way that Leonardo finished it more than45 years ago. Ivins declares that "the most importantthing that happened during the Renaissance was the emergence of ideas whichled to the rationalization of sight" (Brizio and Brugnoli 35). Through the centuries, Leonardo was been surrounded by mystery, as ifhe were some kind of prophet of the 2 th century born five hundred yearsbefore his time. Heis often portrayed as a solitary misfit, secretive, arrogant and cold."But several scholars have suggested a quite different Leonardo - amischief-maker and storyteller, enjoying elegant accommodations and anentourage of beautiful young men dressed stylishly at the masters expense"(Horn 72). M. His studies ofmechanics, optics, water, engineering animals and his writings andpaintings all derived from this common source. He also improved upon both the idea of an armored vehicleand the Gutenberg printing press. On the other hand, the2 th century has seen the rise of the specialist, the creation of theprofessional, and here Leonardo would have been at odds for such a systemwould not cater to his wild imaginings. For art curators thisposes the problem of making the "Mona Lisa'" sacred, giving her anexaggerated importance relative to other works of art (Danto 148). Alsoduring this time, he attempted to build a flying machine. Upon finishing one of hisgreatest works, "The Last Supper," in the refectory of the Monastery ofSanta Maria delle Grazie in Milan, he moved back to Florence where hecontinued to paint and was appointed military engineer by Cesare Borgia, incharge of inspecting his fortresses in Romagna. Leonardo believed it was man's role toobserve nature as attentively and completely as possible. And at the center was Leonardo who wrote: "The artist disputesand competes with nature" (Brizio and Brugnoli 38). It was during thistine he pursued his interest in optics and anatomy. In 15 3 he returned to Florence and was commissioned to divert theArno River in order to force the city of Pisa to surrender. . He experimented for years with a moving-wingaircraft called "ornighopters," unaware that humans are not strong enoughto flap wings large enough to lift them (Wiley 92). Layers of discolored brown varnish, an extensive network offine cracks and repeated restoration efforts have left their marks.Cleaning it would not be difficult, but she has become so sacrosanct, thatcurators at the Louvre believe it would cause a scandal (Peterson 152).She is now a prisoner of her own fame. So,despite the church's taboo against dissection, he began anatomical studiesof human cadavers leading him to cut into the liver and heart and recordhis discoveries with masterful illustrations and even proceeding to explorepossible improvements on the organs. Some of his designs andconcepts were too advanced for his contemporaries and it would take twohundred years for them to be appreciated (Brizio and Brugnoli 13). Leonardo's design of defensive fortifications, which is but oneaspect of his military architecture, represented a considerable evolutionfrom the conventional to the boldly inventive. "He had no hesitation about steppingover the line of heresy," says Andrew Robinson of the National Gallery ofArt in Washington. Leonardo was not considered a theoretical architect, he was moreassociated with military and defensive architecture. Trained in Florence in the shop ofartist Andrea Verrocchio, he went on to develop an awe-inspiring range ofskills, which, based on his notebooks left behind, have only served toconfirm that he was truly a "universal genius" (Brizio and Brugnoli 13).Covering the fields of nature, the natural sciences, painting, inventions,architecture, machinery and weaponry and fortification designs, Leonardohad a taste for the fantastic as well as the modern. And there is speculation that a drawingof a bicycle found in one of his notebooks is the first of its kind ever,predating the "invention" of the vehicle by centuries (Wiley 92; Brizio andBrugnoli 2 ). Contemporary accounts describe a practical joker, not a gruff,eccentric visionary but a man who enjoyed his courtly positions and attines burned with bitter envy of the younger masters who would replace him(Horn 72), never realizing that the scope of his interests would provide alegacy unmatched by those who followed. Leonardo explored every branch of the sciences known to his age andproved to be far ahead of his time in striving for sound methodology andmanagement, and the value he placed on empirical truth (Horn 72; Brizio andBrugnoli 16). Although a rationalman, he was always attracted to the irrational. The purpose of this research is to examine Leonardo de Vinci througha study of his history, style, influences and scientific andindividualistic approaches, stressing two of his famous art works, the"Mona Lisa" and the "Virgin of the Rocks." Included in this will be a lookat the myths and ambiguities surrounding the man and his legacy. Writing in his familiar "mirror" script, which is backward writingreadable with a mirror, enabled him to write and draw simultaneously tosave time. Observation, thelearning of nature's forms and laws, became the basis of his manifoldintellectual activities (Horn 72; Brizio and Brugnoli 14). In his lifetime, he was the subject of fantastic talesand legends and was even feared by some as a magician or demon (Horn 72).Consequently, this famous artist remains one of the least understood. Today, placed behind a bullet-proof glass, the painting draws bigcrowds and has surfaced as a symbol of art itself. According to artcritics, the Louvre version is all Leonardo's and the London version bearstraces of collaboration with the other artists involved in the project, theDe Predis brothers. Painted during the years of the Battle of Anghiari, "MonaLisa" represents a departure from the Florentine style for Leonardo withher smile, which has mystery and ambiguous psychological depth, and in thebackground which is more composition geology rather then real landscape(Danto 148; Brizio and Brugnoli 44). Many of his sketches and notes deal with the problem ofarch stability. "For Leonardo, painting - anddrawing, which is the fastest kind of painting - is the most direct andeffective means of 'mental discourse' in every field" (Brizio and Brugnoli4 ). His calculations show that he was close to realizing themodern method of determining the horizontal thrust in the arch, which toLeonardo and his contemporaries was an enormous technical challenge (Brizioand Brugnoli 24). When it came to machines and weaponry, Leonardo's intent was tosimplify the routine tasks that he saw being performed around him.Visualizing a mechanical solution to a problem, he would sketch the partsand assembly, note the working directions and then continue on to solveother associated problems. Leonardo's willingness to challenge the dogma of the day suggestedthat he would have been at ease in modern times. The paintingfilled a panel left free of carvings and gilded sculpture and surrounded byfour angels playing instruments and singing, contrasting sharply with thepainting's shadows and subtleties (Brizio and Brugnoli 47). News & World Report 25 May 1987: 71-72.Wiley, John P., Jr. . But in one of the last entries in his diary before his death, hetestified to the enduring life of his creations. He wrote, "No human investigation can be called true sciencewithout going through mathematical tests . It was here that he paintedthe renown "Mona Lisa" as well as the "Bacchus," the "Leda," and "St. Many suggest that Leonardo'saspiration to comprehensive understanding may have become an impossibledream. "Unmasking a Mona Lisa' Coverup." Science News 7 March 1987: 152.----------------------- 1 Wrote Leonardo: "I shallgo on" (Peterson 152; Horn 72). Born near Vinci, Italy, on April 15, 1452, Leonardo lived through theheight of the Renaissance period. Johnthe Baptist." He continued his scientific studies and working on hydraulics uponhis return to Florence and Milan in 15 8 until a patron, Giuliano deMedici, brother of Pope Leo X, invited him to Rome. the sciences which begin andend in the mind cannot be considered to contain truth, because suchdiscourses lack experience, without which nothing reveals itself withcertainty" (Horn 72; Brizio and Brugnoli 16). Though imitations of the painting were prevalent through thecenturies and its popularity continued to grow, it wasn't until it wasstolen from the Louvre in 1911, and thousands flocked to look at the emptyspace on the wall there, that the "Mona Lisa" became a "celebrity" (Danto151). Leonardo's inventive, imaginative mind created on paper contraptionsand gadgets of many kinds. He also invented aseries of odometers to measure distance and a transmission system much likethat of an automobile today. The most famous of Leonardo's paintings also hangs in the Louvre inParis. Therefore, in order to depict the humanbody, he had to see for himself the structure of muscle and bone. Three yearslater he left Florence for Milan and in 15 7 he was appointed painter andengineer at the court of Louis XII in France. He paid attention to theart of efficiently organizing firepower and designed a circular rather thansquare fortress with an ominous streamlined profile, foreshadowingfortifications of later centuries. "'Mona Lisa': What Becomes a Legend Most." Art News Summer 1989: 148-51.Peterson, Ivars. He died there on May 2, 1519, and is buried in the cloister of theChurch of St. With thiscame the invention of perspective and the concept that art should imitatenature. On April 25, 1483, Leonardo received his first important commissionin Milan, the painting of the altarpiece for the Chapel of San Francesco ilGrande which would include the painting, the "Virgin of the Rocks."Controversy has swirled around it due to the fact that he did not finishthe work on time and there now exits two versions, one hanging in theNational Gallery in London, the other in the Louvre. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.