por Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) was a fifteenth-century Italian painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist. He was one of the main exponents of the Renaissance. All works, texts and exploratory annotations made by him are considered pieces of art.
He has established himself through the centuries as one of the most outstanding painters. Among other works, Da Vinci was the author of The Mona Lisaalso known as The Giocondalikewise he made one of the most famous versions of The Last Supper.
Among the great contributions of Leonardo da Vinci to the world of art is the representation of space as something three-dimensional, like the human figure and other objects. He managed to synthesize elements of the sciences within the execution of art and that was one of his great contributions.
He studied topics such as geology, anatomy, flight, optics, and even gravity. Some consider that Da Vinci was the real inventor of devices such as the flying machine, the helicopter, the parachute or the bicycle.
[toc]
Important data
Leonardo da Vinci was an illegitimate child, but due to his privileged ancestry in the Florentine area, he managed to access an apprenticeship in Verrocchio’s studio, despite not having obtained a formal education.
During his time in Florence he was instructed in all the arts that were handled in his teacher’s workshop. Despite this, there was no barrier that did not cross the thirst for knowledge of this Tuscan who also learned other disciplines such as medicine and other sciences.
In these years, Da Vinci managed to establish solid friendships with emerging artists such as Botticelli.
Although he began his career with the help of the Medici, the Milan Sforzas were also instrumental in Leonardo da Vinci’s development.
For the aforementioned dominant families in Italy, as well as later for the King of France, Da Vinci worked as an engineer, architect, sculptor and painter, something common among artists of the time.
Biography
Birth
Lionardo di ser Piero da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452. His birthplace may have been the castle of Vinci, near Florence, or the farm where his mother lived, which was also in the Tuscany area.
It was an illegitimate fruit of the union of his father Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci with a peasant girl.
Leonardo’s mother was called Caterina, although there are two possibilities in his surname: the first suggests that he himself was Butti del Vacca, the second affirms that he was di Meo Lippi, the latter is supported by Martin Kemp.
It has not been clarified whether the future artist’s mother was a slave from the Middle East or a farm girl from an impoverished local family.
Leonardo’s father was already engaged at the time of the conception of his firstborn, so a union with Caterina was impossible.
Leonardo did not have a surname in the modern sense, but it seems that he did not make common use of «da Vinci» either (gives meant «from», since it was assigned by the name of the place of origin). He felt uncomfortable using the family name, so he signed his name.
early years
Leonardo lived the first five years of his life in his mother’s home, but the girl had to get married and start her family, so she could not take care of the little one. From that moment on, his father’s family took custody of him.
His grandfather Antonio da Vinci took care of him and he lived in the family residence together with his grandparents and his uncle.
Being Piero’s only son for many years, it is believed that he was treated as legitimate even though he was not.
Leonardo’s father served as a Florentine notary, chancellor, and ambassador. Piero married a 16-year-old girl named Albiera Amadori, who, unable to have her own children, treated her husband’s little offspring with great love.
Piero da Vinci’s second marriage also produced no offspring. However, luck changed when Leonardo’s father married for the third time with Margherita di Guglielmo, with whom he had six children, who were the heirs to his belongings.
In his fourth and last marriage to Lucrezia Cortigiani, Piero had 6 more legitimate children, although he was already quite old for the time.
Education
During his stay at the Da Vinci family home, young Leonardo received a very basic informal education. He learned to read, write and the basics of arithmetic. But he could not delve into knowledge of the Latin language or science studies.
From a very young age it seemed that Leonardo was called to pursue an artistic career. Probably his first contacts with these disciplines were through his grandmother Lucia di ser Piero di Zoso, who was a ceramicist.
Among the most widespread anecdotes of his first vestiges of artistic talent is one that says that a peasant requested a shield with a drawing made by the young Leonardo.
The result was so good that Piero managed to sell it to a merchant, who did the same to the Duke of Milan. Instead, the boy’s father gave the peasant another piece of work that he had bought with part of the proceeds from the young Da Vinci’s work.
It is believed that at that time Leonardo was in constant contact with nature, which allowed him to capture its essence in order to represent it in his later works.
Verrocchio’s workshop
Leonardo da Vinci’s talent was remarkable for a young man of his age. That motivated his father to go to one of the most important workshops in Florence, directed by a friend of his, to find out if that was the right career for the boy’s abilities.
Thanks to Piero’s efforts, the 14-year-old boy was accepted as a waiter by one of the most renowned artists of the time in Italy: Andrea Verrocchio. In fact, the teacher was pleasantly impressed with the skills of Leonardo da Vinci.
It was not until 1469 that the young man was promoted to apprentice. There he began to learn in depth all the disciplines that his teacher’s workshop handled, among which were sculpture, painting, carpentry, drawing.
Similarly, da Vinci began to do work in wood, leather, and metal. He also learned about other technical trades related to chemistry and mechanics, which were the foundations of activities such as engineering.
According to Giorgio Vasari, Leonardo da Vinci participated in the realization of works such as The Baptism of Christ and he also took part anonymously in many other works carried out by Verrocchio’s workshop.
In addition, it is thought that Da Vinci was a model in the David sculpted by his master and in Tobias and the Angel like Archangel Raphael.
Teacher
In 1472 Leonardo da Vinci became part of the Guild of San Lucas, that is, of the artists and doctors, having been included during that year in its Red Book, which included the names of its members.
From that moment he was in the faculty to practice the profession as an independent. In fact, his father helped him set up a workshop. However, Leonardo himself still did not consider himself a master and he continued to work with Verrocchio.
He continued to work with Verrocchio for the next five years, which is when he parted ways with his mentor and began taking commissions independently.
landscape of Santa Maria della neve, from 1473, done with pen and ink is one of Leonardo’s earliest pieces. Also among his first works was the annunciation Created between 1472 and 1475, another of his novel works was the virgin of the carnation from 1476.
There was a break in his creative activity when he was accused in 1476 of having committed sodomy along with three other men. Ultimately, da Vinci was cleared of the charges, which were filed anonymously.
Despite this, the question about his sexuality remained open throughout his life.
Independent works
Leonardo da Vinci considered that he no longer had anything to learn from his teacher c. 1477 and began taking jobs independently. In 1478 he advised the Baptistery of Saint John in Florence regarding the location of the bronze statues of Francesco Rustici.
It is also believed that at that time he began to live with the Medici family, who became his patrons and commissioned him to paint a painting that was to decorate a chapel in Palazzo Vecchio.
For their part, the monks of San Donato, from Scopeto, commissioned him a work called The Adoration of the Magi (1481), but this was never completed.
It is known that da Vinci left the city, but his reasons for leaving Florence are not known. Some think that he may have been offended by not being chosen among the artists who worked in the Sistine Chapel.
Others argued that he did not agree with the thought of the Neoplatonic current, which was sponsored by the Medici, and it was also said that he was looking for greater freedom to develop his genius in a more plural environment.
Stay in Milan
From 1482 Leonardo da Vinci began to be at the service of a new gentleman who was very important in his life and artistic growth: Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, with whom he was for almost two decades.
One of the main works obtained by Leonardo in that period was the virgin of the rockswhich he carried out between 1483 and 1486. The request was made by the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception for the chapel of San Francesco the Great in Milan.
Legal issues
A legal conflict arose with this work between da Vinci and the members of the confraternity, since the question of whether or not he could reproduce said work arose.
The jurists of the moment decided that it could do it and when that reproduction materialized again there was a legal confrontation. Everything was resolved when it was accepted that both versions were considered valid.
Other works
He traveled, by order of Sforza to Hungary, there he met Matías Corvinus, who commissioned him to make a portrait of a young woman in the style of the Madonnas of the time, it was probably the fiancée of the Hungarian king.
When he returned to Milan he continued to create various projects for Sforza. The Last Supper by da Vinci was made between 1495 and 1499, it was located in the Monastery of Santa María de la Gracia.
In addition, he made a model of the equestrian monument of Francesco Sforza, popularly known as big horse, but it could not materialize due to lack of means.
He also designed the dome of the Milan Cathedral. It did not materialize since the bronze was arranged to make cannons and defend the city from the attacks of Charles VIII of France in 1499.
In that confrontation, the Duke of Milan was deposed and the Second Italian War began, which lasted from 1499 to 1504.
return to florence
Before returning to his hometown, Leonardo spent time in Venice, where he served as a military architect and engineer. His main task was to plan the defense against a probable naval attack.
In 1500 he returned to Florence and stayed for a time in the monastery of the Santissima Annunziata where they offered him a workshop in which he created Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint…