3 - Leonardo da Vinci
Lecture
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Meet the man behind the
term: "Renaissance
man." Leonardo da Vinci: inventor, artist, scientist, philosopher,
anatomist, astronomer, and engineer... the true Renaissance man.
Leonardo was born April 15, 1452, in the small village of Vinci.
You can tell where a man came from by his last name, so Leonardo
came from
Vinci, therefore, called Leonardo da Vinci (da=of). He was the
illegitimate son
of a notary and his mother was a peasant. |
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Self-Portrait, Leonardo
da Vinci.
Courtesy of ArtServe
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When Leonardo was 14, he was apprenticed to a well-known sculptor and
painter, Andrea del Verrocchio. The first few years he was allowed
only to do unimportant tasks, but as he grew older, he was given more
and more responsibility. One new idea that was discussed in the workshop
was how to create the sense of deep space in painting.
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The Last Supper, Leonardo
da Vinci. Courtesy of ArtServe
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Leonardo learned how to use linear perspective by making things in
the background smaller and things in the foreground larger. Also,
he learned how to compose his painting so the lines converged at
a central vanishing point. He uses this technique in the above Last
Supper. The tops of the walls and the tops of the paintings converge
at Christ's head. It is said that Leonardo invented aerial perspective
(also called atmospheric perspective), a technique in which the artist
paints the background bluer, paler, and blurrier to make it look
farther away. Leonardo was very fond of this technique, and often
created dreamlike backgrounds for his paintings. |
| The painting Leonardo is probally the most well known for is the Mona Lisa.
The Mona Lisa has been admired, copied, stolen, exploited, and parodied.
Leonardo spent four years painting her. She is believed to be Lisa Gherardini.
The painting was commissioned by her husband, Francesco di Bartolomeo
di Zanobi del Giocondo, a wealthy Florentine merchant. Monna Lisa was
her original title. Monna is a contraction for Madonna, Mia Donna (meaning
Madam or My Lady). Later, It became Mona Lisa, in English due to a spelling
error. |
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Mona Lisa,Leonardo
da Vinci.
Courtesy PBS
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| Leonardo spent years working on this painting. He added thin layer upon
layer to give the painting a smoky, vague quality. He used the technique
of blurring the lines of her clothing and hair so they look as though
they are seen through a haze. This technique, sfumato, which means
smoky, was a favorite of Leonardo's. Mona Lisa's face, neck, and hands
are full of light, made more so when set against the dark surface of
her clothing. There is also the use of linear perspective, with the woman
clearly in the foreground and a dreamlike landscape in the background.
If you look carefully, you can see the right and left backgrounds don't
even match. This adds to the unearthly quality of the painting. |
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